Chapter 7
We recovered the recording before dawn.
Helena’s voice was unmistakable.
“I spent twenty years holding this family together while Vincent was still learning which fork to use.”
Marco answered.
“He’s boss now.”
“He’s Sofia’s husband now.”
Silence.
Then Helena again.
“She softens him.”
Marco laughed.
“You hate her.”
“I hate what happens when men like Vincent start believing love matters more than legacy.”
I stopped the recording.
Sofia sat beside me.
Her hand was shaking.
“You heard this alone?”
She nodded.
I resumed.
Marco asked what Helena wanted.
My sister answered:
“I want him dependent on family again.”
“How?”
“Take away the person who convinced him family isn’t enough.”
My throat tightened.
Marco’s voice lowered.
“You mean Sofia?”
Helena laughed.
“Who else?”
I stopped it again.
Nobody spoke.
Helena finally sighed.
“You’re treating angry words like orders.”
I looked at her.
“The lake house came three weeks later.”
Her jaw tightened.
I pressed play.
Marco’s next sentence came through.
“And if she refuses to leave?”
Helena answered without hesitation.
“Then everybody mourns.”
Sofia closed her eyes.
I did not.
I watched my sister.
No denial.
No shock.
Only irritation that her own voice had survived.
Then Marco’s recorded voice asked:
“What about Clara?”
The room went still.
Helena responded.
“She’s young enough to forget.”
Sofia broke.
Not loudly.
She folded forward as though the sentence physically struck her.
I stopped the recording.
Marco stared at the floor.
I looked at him.
“You heard that.”
He nodded.
“And still helped.”
His mouth tightened.
“I thought she meant send Sofia away.”
Sofia looked up.
“You pulled me from a wreck and handed me to her.”
Marco’s eyes filled with something that almost looked like shame.
Almost.
“She said you would be kept safe.”
Sofia laughed bitterly.
“I was.”
Then she looked toward the hidden room.
May you like
“Safe enough to suffer longer.”
No one had an answer to that.
