When Love Finds Its Way Back (Cassienne and Dreston) novel Chapter 377

The interrogation room fell into complete silence. No one spoke after Donatus Richardson admitted there was another person.

Justice Elena exchanged a quick glance with Joseph. Steve remained still, his eyes fixed on the man sitting across the table. Even the investigators held their breath, knowing they had finally reached the point they had been chasing for weeks.

The lead investigator was the first to speak. "You said there is someone else."

Donatus nodded slowly. "There is."

He looked exhausted.

The confidence that had once defined him had completely disappeared. His expensive suit was wrinkled, his hair untidy, and the billionaire who had once carried himself with unquestionable authority now looked like an old man who had been carrying a burden far heavier than he had ever admitted.

The investigator leaned forward. "Who is he?"

Donatus laughed bitterly. "You think I planned all of this?" His eyes slowly lifted toward Joseph. "You've been looking at the wrong man all along."

Joseph's expression remained calm. "Then help us look at the right one."

Donatus remained quiet for a long moment. His thoughts drifted back more than twenty years.

"My brother wasn't the first person to approach Ethan Rhodes."

Joseph frowned. "What do you mean?"

"Ethan was already being watched."

Justice Elena immediately picked up her pen. "Can you please explain?”

Donatus inhaled deeply before continuing. "My brother, Mike Richardson, wanted Auralink's breakthrough technology because he believed it would change the future of the industry. That much you already know."

Joseph nodded once. "We know that."

"But Mike wasn't acting alone."

Those words immediately changed the atmosphere.

The lead investigator pressed the record button again, making certain every word was captured.

Donatus continued. "My brother had a business partner. A man who never liked standing in the spotlight. A man who preferred allowing others to take the risks while he remained invisible."

Joseph slowly straightened in his chair.

"Go on."

Donatus looked directly at him. "My brother believed he was the one leading everything." A bitter smile appeared on his face. “But he was wrong. He was only another piece on the board."

Justice Elena stopped writing. "Who was controlling him?"

Donatus closed his eyes briefly. "The man you should have been looking for from the very beginning." He opened them again. "Alessandro Virelli."

The room became deathly silent.

Joseph didn't move.

Neither did Elena.

Steve looked down slowly, remembering Ray's call from the hospital and Tina's single word.

Virelli.

Everything suddenly began fitting together.

The lead investigator finally broke the silence. "Tell us about Alessandro Virelli."

Donatus laughed again.

This time there was no anger.

Only regret.

"You won't understand him if you think money was all he wanted."

Joseph narrowed his eyes. "Then what did he want?"

"He wanted minds."

The answer confused no one more than Joseph. "Minds?"

Donatus nodded. "He always said that companies aren't built by money. They're built by brilliant people. He admired genius."

Then his expression darkened. "No… Admired isn't the right word. He collected it."

Justice Elena looked up immediately. "What do you mean?"

"When Ethan Rhodes developed that technology...Alessandro wanted Ethan. He believed Ethan's mind was worth more than the product itself."

Joseph slowly lowered his head.

His heart became heavier with every passing second.

Donatus continued. "When Ethan refused every offer...Alessandro decided that if he couldn't own the man...he would own his work."

The room remained silent.

The lead investigator frowned. "Then why were there repeated attempts on her life?"

Donatus sighed. "Because things stopped going according to Alessandro's plan." He leaned back in his chair. "He found Tina first. She was angry and broken. She was easy to manipulate. So he fed her fragments of the past. Never complete lies. Just enough truth to make her ask questions."

Joseph listened without blinking.

"Tina believed she was uncovering the truth. In reality...she was only following the path Alessandro prepared for her."

Donatus looked toward the table. "When Tina stopped listening to him...she became dangerous. She wanted Cassienne eliminated. The knife attack, the growing obsession, everything became uncontrollable."

He slowly looked back at Joseph. "That made Alessandro furious."

Joseph frowned. "Because Cassienne was valuable to him."

Donatus nodded. "Exactly. She wasn't a woman to him. She wasn't your daughter-in-law. She wasn't Dreston's wife. But she was an asset. A mind he intended to possess."

The words left a chill inside the room.

For the first time, everyone truly understood the man they were hunting.

Not a man driven by hatred or a man driven by revenge. But a man who viewed brilliant people as property.

The lead investigator quietly switched off the recorder.

He looked toward Justice Elena.

Then toward Joseph.

Finally, he spoke. "We're no longer investigating an old conspiracy." He closed the file in front of him. "We're hunting the man who created it."

Outside the interrogation room, officers were already moving with urgency.

Orders began spreading through the headquarters.

Phones rang.

Vehicles were prepared.

Search warrants were requested.

The investigation had reached its final target.

And somewhere beyond the walls of the police headquarters...

Alessandro Virelli still had no idea that the shadow he had hidden behind for more than two decades had finally disappeared.