Dominic Vale, Chicago’s most feared mafia boss, fired me in front of his men because he saw my hands moving toward his deaf daughter

I walked over to the entry table, picked up the weathered journal, and held it out toward him.

"My father wrote that you pushed him out," I said, my voice trembling slightly, not from fear of Dominic, but from the terrifying weight of uncertainty. "He wrote that you stole his assets, Dominic. I need to know the truth. Not the version you tell the syndicate, and not the version the cops are using to build a federal case. *Your* truth."

Dominic stared at the journal for a long, agonizing moment. Slowly, he reached out and took it from my hands. He didn't open it; instead, he set it gently on the table, closed his eyes, and took a long, deep breath.

"Your father didn't walk away because of me, Claire," Dominic said, his voice dropping into a raspy, painful whisper. "He walked away because of *Victor*."

I blinked, stunned. "Victor?"

"Your uncle was bleeding the syndicate dry through unauthorized narcotics shipments behind your father's back," Dominic explained, walking over to the fireplace and resting his arm against the stone mantel. "Kenneth found out. He tried to stop him. Victor planted evidence to make it look like *I* was the one trying to oust your father, hoping to start a civil war that would let Victor take over both families."

Dominic turned back to face me, his gaze piercing through my soul. "When I found out what Victor was doing, I protected your father. I helped him fake his exit so Victor's hit squads couldn't reach him in Indiana. I kept him safe until the day he died of natural heart failure. Ask Marcus. Check the encrypted ledgers from five years ago. The truth is right there."

The room spun slightly as the puzzle pieces finally clicked into place. The federal subpoena, Arthur’s manipulation, the forged documents—it was all a continuation of Victor's final, desperate gambit from beyond the grave, executed through corrupt cops in the CPD.

"Detective Vance is using the fake papers Victor made," I realized aloud. "He's walking right into Victor's trap."