Chapter 11 - The True Heir
We ran down the hallway to the master office.
Luca punched the code into the steel door. It hissed open.
The panic room was still dimly lit by the emergency bulb. Vanessa was sitting on the floor, her knees pulled to her chest, her red dress torn and ruined. She looked up at us, her eyes red and swollen from crying.
She expected Luca to drag her out by her hair.
Instead, Luca walked in slowly and knelt in front of her.
He placed my grandmother’s yellowed letter on the floor between them.
“Read it,” Luca commanded softly.
Vanessa frowned, her hands shaking as she picked up the paper.
I watched as her eyes darted across the faded ink. I watched her breath hitch. I watched the last thirty years of her life—every lie, every cold shoulder from her father, every desperate attempt to earn his love—crash down on her all at once.
She dropped the letter. A wounded, animalistic sob tore from her throat.
“He threw me away,” she cried, rocking back and forth. “He never wanted me. I was just a pawn.”
“Arthur used you,” Luca said gently. “And now Dominic is going to take everything that rightfully belongs to you. Dominic is threatening to destroy my family by morning.”
Vanessa looked up, her makeup running down her face in dark rivers. “Why are you showing me this? I tried to hurt your daughter. I tried to kill Emily.”
“Because,” I stepped forward, my voice steady, “you were broken by a man who didn't know how to love. But you have a choice now, Vanessa. You can let Dominic win, or you can take back what is yours.”
Vanessa stared at me. The hatred in her eyes was gone, replaced by a profound, hollow grief.
“What do you want me to do?” she whispered.
“We need you to sign a proxy,” Luca said, pulling a pen from his pocket. “Transfer your voting rights in the Bellini empire to Marco. With your shares, we can outvote Dominic in the morning assembly and freeze his assets.”
Vanessa looked at the pen.
She looked at me. The granddaughter of the woman who had hidden her, loved her for a year, and then was forced to surrender her to a monster.
Vanessa took the pen.
She signed her name at the bottom of the legal pad Luca produced.
“Take it,” Vanessa whispered, handing the pad back. “Burn his empire to the ground, Luca.”
Luca took the paper. For the first time, he looked at Vanessa not with anger, but with pity.
“Security will escort you to the airport,” Luca said. “There’s a private jet waiting. It will take you to Switzerland. There is a trust fund set up in your name. Start over, Vanessa.”
Vanessa broke down into fresh tears. “Thank you,” she choked out.
By 6:00 AM, the sun was breaking over Lake Michigan.
Luca and Marco stood in the grand foyer, dressed in sharp black suits. They held the signed proxy and the black ledger diary.
“Are you ready?” Luca asked Marco.
“Let’s end this,” Marco nodded.
They walked out the front doors, heading downtown to the Bellini corporate headquarters to drop the guillotine on Dominic Bellini.
I walked upstairs to the master bedroom.
The door was slightly open.
I peeked inside.
The morning light streamed through the large bay windows, bathing the room in a warm, golden glow.
Teresa was asleep in the armchair in the corner.
On the massive king-sized bed, Elena was sitting up against the pillows. She looked tired, but the deadly pallor was already fading from her skin now that the poisoned tea was gone.
Beside her, Isabella was curled up fast asleep, her head resting on her mother’s chest.
May you like
Elena looked up and saw me in the doorway.
She smiled, a beautiful, genuine smile, and patted the empty space on the bed beside her.
