Chapter 10 - The Truth About the Wheelchair
Cedric requested a meeting through Elena. I agreed only with counsel present, in an accessible conference room outside his mansion.
He arrived without his usual entourage. The small cut on his temple had healed, but he looked exhausted.
“I need to explain what happened fifteen years ago,” he said.
“Then don't leave anything out.”
He described hearing that his father intended to frighten Isabella into surrendering her records. When he arrived at the warehouse, the fire had already started. Trying to assist the rescue, he was badly injured. The resulting spinal damage changed how he moved through the world.
“My wheelchair isn't a disguise,” he said. “It's how I live. But I used my injury as a reason not to confront my father afterward.”
“You were hurt,” I answered. “That doesn't excuse what you hid.”
“I know.”
He admitted that after Aldo's death he found hints that a child had survived. He feared Bellini was searching for the same person, and he never followed the leads directly enough to learn the truth.
When Bellini targeted me with the invented debt, Cedric panicked. He arranged the marriage because he assumed control would keep me safe.
“You didn't love me,” I said. “You didn't know me.”
“No. I thought I could protect you without asking what protection you wanted.”
“That's not protection.”
“I understand.”
He then gave Elena documentation about the guard injured that morning and permitted the account to be checked. The blood had come from a man Cedric helped after an attack connected to Bellini's pursuit of the frame.
Finally, Cedric opened a folder.
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Inside was a letter bearing Aldo Spedaro's signature.
It discussed Isabella's death as a problem already solved.
