Chapter 12 - BERNADETTE SPEAKS
-12
For nearly three weeks, Bernadette said nothing.
Not to police.
Not to prosecutors.
Not to Vittorio.
Her attorneys issued statements describing her as an elderly woman targeted by an ambitious investigation and a vengeful son.
Then the original ledger became public through court filings.
The story changed overnight.
Victims came forward.
Former employees spoke to reporters.
Medical professionals were questioned.
Families demanded records.
DeLuca Holdings stock plunged.
Board members panicked.
Vittorio refused to intervene.
“Make a statement,” directors begged.
“We need stability.”
“No,” Vittorio said.
“What do you mean no?”
“The company survived for decades because people protected appearances.”
“We employ thousands of people.”
“Then protect the employees. Not the name.”
“What are you planning?”
“A complete independent audit.”
One director nearly shouted.
“That could destroy us.”
“If the truth destroys us, then we were already destroyed.”
It was the first major decision Vittorio made that Bernadette would have considered unforgivable.
He felt free.
Then Bernadette requested to see him.
Alone.
Detective Ellis advised against it.
Matteo advised against it.
Even Luca said, “Why?”
But Vittorio agreed.
Not because Bernadette deserved him.
Because Vittorio wanted to hear what she would say after every weapon except words had been taken away.
They met inside a secure interview room.
Bernadette entered wearing prison-issued clothing beneath a plain cardigan her lawyer had provided.
No pearls.
No purse.
No carefully selected suit.
Yet her posture remained regal.
She sat.
Vittorio remained standing.
“You look tired,” she said.
“You poisoned my son.”
No greeting.
No performance.
Bernadette’s face remained still.
“I made a mistake.”
“You deliberately put something in his drink.”
“He was never supposed to become that sick.”
Vittorio stared.
There it was.
An admission without remorse.
“So you admit it.”
“I admit I miscalculated.”
“Miscalculated?”
“He had tolerated it before.”
Vittorio’s entire body tightened.
“How many times?”
Bernadette looked away.
“How many?”
“Enough.”
He gripped the back of a chair.
“You’ve been drugging him for years.”
“Drugging is an ugly word.”
“What word do you prefer?”
“Managing.”
Vittorio laughed once.
Cold.
Disbelieving.
“You managed my father too?”
Bernadette’s eyes returned to him.
“Enzo had become impossible.”
“You made him sick.”
“He was already sick.”
“You made it worse.”
“I kept him calm.”
“You stole control.”
“I preserved what we built.”
“You and Dominic.”
A tiny change.
Bernadette disliked Dominic’s name.
“He was useful.”
“He was my biological father.”
“Yes.”
No hesitation.
Vittorio had expected the confirmation to hurt more.
Instead it felt strangely distant.
“Did Enzo know?”
“Yes.”
“And he stayed.”
“He loved you.”
“Did you?”
Bernadette frowned.
“What kind of question is that?”
“A simple one.”
“I gave you everything.”
“That isn’t love.”
“I gave you a name.”
“Enzo gave me that.”
“I made sure you kept it.”
Vittorio finally sat.
“Why Dominic?”
She looked irritated.
“As if thirty-eight years ago matters now.”
“It matters because everything you hid became someone else’s prison.”
Bernadette exhaled.
“Dominic wanted more than I did.”
“Then why keep his child?”
A bitter smile.
“Because Enzo wanted you.”
That stopped him.
“He knew before I was born?”
“Yes.”
“And chose to raise me?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because unlike Dominic, your father understood loyalty.”
She still called Enzo his father.
Vittorio noticed.
“What happened to Matteo?”
“He ran.”
“After Dominic attacked him.”
“Yes.”
“You told everyone he stole.”
“He threatened the family.”
“He threatened you.”
“Same thing.”
“No.”
Vittorio leaned forward.
“That is the lie you built everything on. You decided you were the family.”
Bernadette’s eyes hardened.
“I held that family together.”
“You broke every person who disagreed with you.”
“I made difficult decisions.”
“You poisoned Dad.”
“He was going to destroy the company.”
“You targeted Sofia.”
“She was going to destroy you.”
Vittorio stopped.
“You mean expose you.”
“I mean destroy everything you inherited.”
“Stolen things.”
“You think employees care where the first shares came from? You think pensioners care which frightened businessman signed what forty years ago? They care that the company exists.”
“You convinced yourself crime was responsibility.”
“I convinced myself survival requires adults.”
Vittorio’s voice dropped.
“Did you kill Sofia?”
Bernadette became very still.
“Answer me.”
“She should have stopped.”
His hands trembled.
“Did you kill my wife?”
“I gave her chances.”
The sentence nearly broke him.
“Did you put something in her tea?”
Bernadette looked directly at him.
“Yes.”
There was no thunder.
No dramatic sound.
Just one word.
Vittorio’s eyes burned.
“Did you intend to kill her?”
Bernadette paused.
“I intended to frighten her.”
“She died.”
“I know.”
“You watched me bury her.”
“I watched you survive.”
“You held Luca at the funeral.”
“I love Luca.”
Vittorio stood so abruptly the chair scraped backward.
“You don’t know what that word means.”
Bernadette’s composure finally cracked.
“I protected that boy.”
“From who?”
“From you.”
Vittorio froze.
She continued quickly.
“Your temper. Your enemies. Your obsession with business. Sofia wanted to take him away.”
“To protect him from you.”
“From this family.”
“Same thing.”
Bernadette’s jaw tightened.
“I could not allow that.”
“So you killed his mother.”
“I did not mean for her to die.”
“But after she did, you covered it.”
“Yes.”
“And then you started doing the same thing to Luca.”
“To create options.”
“Options?”
“If you became unstable, I needed legal control.”
Vittorio stared at her with disgust.
“You manufactured instability.”
“I prepared for it.”
“You provoked me at the party.”
Bernadette said nothing.
“You kicked his gift.”
Silence.
“You poisoned his tea.”
Silence.
“You expected me to explode in front of everyone.”
Bernadette’s eyes gave the answer.
Vittorio almost laughed.
“You raised me to react violently, then planned to use my reaction against me.”
“I raised you to be strong.”
“No.”
He shook his head.
“You raised me to be useful.”
For the first time, Bernadette looked hurt.
Not guilty.
Hurt that he had rejected her version of motherhood.
“You came here because you wanted answers,” she said.
“I got them.”
“You think you did.”
Vittorio paused.
Bernadette leaned closer.
“Sofia found more than the ledger.”
“What?”
“She found what Enzo did.”
“My father?”
“Yes.”
“What did he do?”
Bernadette’s mouth curved slightly.
“There it is.”
“What?”
“The worship.”
“I don’t worship him.”
“You need one good parent.”
Vittorio said nothing.
Bernadette continued.
“Enzo was not innocent.”
“I know he covered for you.”
“He did more.”
“What?”
“He signed the first false competency documents.”
Vittorio’s face tightened.
“He helped Dominic move assets.”
“Before you?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because the company was failing.”
“You joined later.”
“I improved the system.”
The casual phrasing was monstrous.
“What did Sofia discover?”
“That Enzo wanted to confess before he died.”
“I know.”
“No.”
Bernadette leaned forward.
“He confessed already.”
Vittorio frowned.
“To who?”
“Federal investigators.”
His stomach dropped.
“When?”
“Two weeks before he died.”
“Where is the confession?”
“Dominic intercepted it.”
“Dominic was dead by then.”
Bernadette smiled.
“Not Dominic.”
Vittorio realized.
“Celeste.”
Bernadette nodded.
“She has the recording?”
“She had it.”
“Where?”
“I don’t know.”
“You expect me to believe that?”
“I stopped trusting Celeste after Sofia died.”
“Why?”
“Because Celeste kept insurance.”
“Insurance?”
“Copies of everything.”
Vittorio thought about the abandoned servers.
Vault.
Hidden records.
“What was Enzo confessing?”
“Names. Transfers. Medical manipulation. Everything.”
“Including you?”
“Yes.”
“Then why didn’t Celeste destroy it?”
“Because it protected her from me.”
Vittorio stared.
All those decades, alliances had not been built on trust.
Only mutually assured destruction.
Bernadette.
Dominic.
Enzo.
Celeste.
Each held evidence against the others.
A family empire constructed like a hostage situation.
“Why tell me now?”
Bernadette’s answer came quietly.
“Because Celeste will trade that confession for freedom.”
“That helps prosecutors.”
“It also destroys your father’s name.”
Vittorio understood.
This was Bernadette’s final weapon.
Not threat of prison.
Not money.
Shame.
She believed Vittorio would protect Enzo’s reputation.
Protect the DeLuca name.
Protect the company.
Just as everyone before him had.
Vittorio smiled faintly.
Bernadette looked uncertain.
“What?”
“You still don’t understand.”
“Understand what?”
“I’m not hiding anything.”
Her expression changed.
“Vittorio.”
“If Enzo confessed, release it.”
“You don’t know what you’re saying.”
“Every word.”
“It will destroy the family.”
He stood.
“No.”
Then he looked at his mother one last time.
“It will end the lie.”
He left.
May you like
Behind him, Bernadette called his name.
For the first time in his life, Vittorio did not turn around.
