Chapter 7 - THE FAMILY HEIRLOOM
“No!” Lily screamed, fighting against Vanessa’s grip. “Let me go! I don’t want to go with you!”
“Shut up, you ungrateful brat!” Vanessa hissed, yanking the child so hard Lily stumbled to her knees.
“Let her go!” I shouted, running after them.
Vanessa dragged Lily backward toward the swinging doors of the catering kitchen. The waitstaff scrambled out of the way.
Adrian was running right beside me.
“Vanessa, stop!” Adrian ordered. “You’re making it worse! You can’t leave with her!”
Vanessa reached into her small, crystal bridal clutch.
She pulled out a small, heavy silver object.
At first, I thought it was a gun. The entire room gasped, taking a collective step backward.
But it wasn’t a weapon.
It was an ornate, antique silver music box.
Adrian stopped dead in his tracks.
“Where did you get that?” Adrian demanded, his voice dropping to a whisper.
“It’s the family heirloom, Adrian,” Vanessa sneered, holding it up like a shield. “The one your grandfather brought over from Italy. The one your mother kept the real, original deed to the company inside.”
Thomas stepped forward from the crowd.
“She’s lying, Adrian,” Thomas said quietly.
“I’m not lying!” Vanessa screamed. “My father told me! If I open this box and destroy the deed inside, your entire corporate structure collapses! The board will seize everything! I’ll smash it right now unless you let me walk out of here with the kid!”
Adrian looked at his father.
Thomas simply smiled. A sad, tired smile.
“Open it, Vanessa,” Thomas said.
Vanessa hesitated. She looked at the music box, then at Thomas.
“I’ll do it!” she threatened.
“Open it,” Adrian echoed, his confidence returning.
Vanessa frantically fumbled with the tiny silver latch. She popped the lid open, ready to tear up whatever document was inside.
The box began to play a soft, tinkling lullaby.
But the velvet compartment inside was completely empty.
Reversal.
Vanessa’s father had lied to her. He had sent his daughter on a decade-long crusade of murder and manipulation for a prize that didn’t even exist.
“Where is it?!” Vanessa shrieked, shaking the box. “Where is the deed?!”
“There never was a deed in that box, Vanessa,” Thomas said gently. “My father sold the original company forty years ago to pay for my mother’s cancer treatments. I built this new company from scratch. Your father was chasing a ghost. And he made you a murderer for nothing.”
Vanessa stared at the empty silver box. The realization that her entire life, her crimes, and her fake marriage were utterly pointless hit her so hard she physically swayed.
She dropped the music box. It clattered against the marble floor, the lullaby skipping and dying.
Her grip on Lily loosened.
I didn’t wait for her to recover.
I rushed forward, grabbed Lily by the waist, and pulled her hard into my chest, spinning away from Vanessa.
“I’ve got you,” I whispered to the little girl, holding her tight as she buried her face in my shoulder, sobbing. “You’re safe now.”
Vanessa stood there in her fifty-thousand-euro white silk dress, entirely alone.
Sirens began to wail in the distance, growing louder as they approached the hotel.
Adrian walked up to Vanessa.
May you like
He didn’t yell. He didn’t curse at her.
He simply reached into his tuxedo jacket and pulled out a folded piece of paper.
