The flight to Milan felt both endless and too short. Elena sat in the private jet Valentina Marchesi had insisted on providing, Lidia asleep in her arms, watching dawn break over the Alps with the kind of crystalline clarity that felt like prophecy.

Sofia sat across from her, laptop open, still coordinating with Marcus Chen and the team of attorneys who had been working through the night. The evidence Marcus had sent was devastating, not just proof of Cecilia’s frauds, but a complete map of ...