Chapter 7
I summoned the five capos who received regular payments from Helena’s account.
Three claimed they thought the money was hers.
One admitted he knew it came from family support funds.
The fifth said nothing.
His silence interested me.
“Paul.”
He looked up.
“How much did Helena tell you?”
His eyes moved toward my mother.
I noticed.
“Look at me.”
He did.
“She said the Bennett arrangement was sensitive.”
“What arrangement?”
“That Nora agreed to keep Sophie outside the family.”
Nora laughed from the other side of the room.
“I agreed to nothing.”
Paul’s face changed.
He had believed it.
Good.
Ignorance did not make him innocent, but it made the structure clearer.
“What were the payments for?”
He swallowed.
“To make sure nobody questioned Helena’s instructions.”
There it was.
Not enough to buy whole men.
Enough to make disobedience inconvenient.
Helena scoffed.
“I supported loyal people.”
I looked around.
“You paid them with money sent to my child.”
No one answered.
Paul lowered his eyes.
“Did Helena ever tell you I was dead?”
His expression changed.
“To Nora?”
“Yes.”
“No.”
Good.
The lie had been compartmentalized.
Different people held different pieces.
That was why nobody saw the whole thing.
One guard thought Nora was unwanted.
One capo thought money was being saved.
One accountant saw legitimate family transfers.
Nobody asked why.
Helena depended on that.
Then Paul said something I did not expect.
“She told us Sophie might not be yours.”
Nora went completely still.
I looked at Helena.
“What?”
My mother’s face hardened.
Paul continued.
“She said there had been doubts.”
Nora crossed the room.
“You told people that?”
Helena did not answer.
Nora’s eyes filled with fury.
“You told me Roman was dead, and you told his family Sophie wasn’t his?”
Two opposite lies.
Perfect.
To Nora, I was gone.
To my family, Sophie was questionable.
Each side was given a reason not to seek the other.
I looked at my mother.
“You didn’t build one wall.”
May you like
My voice stayed low.
“You built two.”
