Chapter 4 - The Heir Nobody Was Supposed to Know About
Nico dragged Corrado from the basement alive.
He did it despite every part of him wanting to leave the man in the smoke.
Because dead men could not answer questions.
Police arrived before the fire was contained.
Corrado was arrested for kidnapping and unlawful possession of a weapon.
But Nico barely listened.
One sentence repeated in his mind.
He left everything to Vivia.
It made no sense.
Vivia had not even been born when Salvatore Bellandi died.
Nico confronted Marcella beside the ambulance.
“How could Father leave his company to a child who didn't exist?”
Marcella looked exhausted.
“He didn't.”
“Corrado said—”
“He is twisting the truth.”
“Then untwist it.”
Marcella looked toward Vivia.
The little girl sat beneath a blanket while a paramedic examined her.
Marcella's eyes filled with shame when she saw the mark she had left on Vivia's face.
Nico noticed.
He did not care.
“Talk.”
Marcella lowered her voice.
“Father created a generational trust.”
Nico frowned.
“I know.”
“No.”
“You know the trust Corrado showed you.”
Nico's stare hardened.
Marcella continued.
“The original trust transferred forty-one percent of Bellandi Industries to the first biological child born to you and Elena.”
Nico stopped.
“Why?”
“Father did not trust either of us.”
Nico almost laughed.
“He trusted an unborn child?”
“He trusted Elena.”
That surprised him.
Marcella looked away.
“Father knew she was the only person in the family who couldn't be bought.”
Nico remained silent.
“Three weeks before he died, Elena helped him audit several accounts.”
“The accounts from the USB?”
Marcella nodded.
“They found twelve shell companies.”
“Who owned them?”
“On paper?”
“Various consultants.”
“In reality?”
Marcella closed her eyes.
“Me.”
Nico stared at her.
“How much?”
“Twenty-eight million.”
Even Rafe looked stunned.
Nico's voice became quieter.
“You stole twenty-eight million euros from our company.”
“I moved it.”
Nico laughed once.
“That's what thieves call stealing when they wear expensive clothes.”
Marcella ignored the insult.
“Some of it paid debts.”
“Whose?”
“Father's.”
“That doesn't make sense.”
“He had investments you didn't know about.”
“What investments?”
Marcella did not answer.
Nico stepped closer.
“What investments?”
“People.”
Nico frowned.
Marcella whispered.
“Judges.”
“Officials.”
“Inspectors.”
“Police commanders.”
Nico felt sick.
“Our father bribed them?”
“Our father owned them.”
Nico looked toward the burning mill.
Everything he had believed about his family was collapsing.
Marcella continued.
“Elena wanted it stopped.”
“Father eventually agreed.”
“Then why was he murdered?”
Marcella looked toward Corrado being placed into a police vehicle.
“Because Corrado didn't.”
Nico followed her gaze.
“Corrado killed Father?”
“I don't know.”
“You knew about Elena.”
“I knew they were going to frighten her.”
“You keep saying they.”
Marcella said nothing.
Nico grabbed her chin and forced her to look at him.
“Who is they?”
Marcella's eyes filled with tears.
“The Bellandi Council.”
Nico released her.
He almost thought he had misheard.
“The council is ceremonial.”
Marcella shook her head.
“No.”
“Our father created it in the eighties.”
“Seven people who protected the family's interests.”
“Corrado is one.”
“Who are the others?”
Marcella looked terrified.
“That is why Elena hid everything instead of going to the police.”
“Who are they?”
“One is a judge.”
“One owns a private bank.”
“One runs the security company that protects half our properties.”
“One is in government.”
“And the others?”
Marcella stared toward the road.
“I never met them.”
Nico didn't believe her.
Rafe walked closer.
“The fire crew found the fountain.”
Nico turned.
“And?”
“The statue is hollow.”
Vivia heard him.
She jumped from the ambulance.
“Mommy's box.”
Nico stopped her.
“You stay here.”
“But I know how to open it.”
Marcella looked alarmed.
Nico noticed.
He turned toward her.
“You thought the ledger was inside.”
Marcella nodded slowly.
Nico looked toward Vivia.
“How do you open it?”
Vivia held up four fingers.
“Four flowers.”
“The princess has five flowers.”
“Mommy said only the flowers looking at the sky.”
Rafe smiled faintly.
“Elena created a childproof code.”
Nico carried Vivia to the fountain.
Firefighters had cleared the surrounding area.
The stone princess was blackened by smoke.
Vivia touched four upward-facing flowers.
Then she pressed the center of the statue's necklace.
A small compartment opened.
Inside was a metal box.
Nico removed it.
Marcella stepped forward.
“That's it.”
Nico opened the box.
It was empty.
Marcella stared.
“No.”
Vivia frowned.
“That's not Mommy's box.”
Everyone looked at her.
Nico crouched.
“What do you mean?”
“Mommy's was blue.”
Marcella whispered.
“Elena moved it.”
Vivia nodded.
“She said the princess was only supposed to tell Daddy where to look next.”
Nico's throat tightened.
Even while terrified, Elena had built a trail.
Not for the police.
Not for lawyers.
For him and their daughter.
Inside the metal box was a single photograph.
Nico removed it.
The picture showed Salvatore Bellandi sitting at a restaurant table.
Elena sat opposite him.
Between them was a man Nico recognized immediately.
Dr. Paolo Serrano.
The physician who had signed Salvatore's death certificate.
On the back Elena had written one sentence.
HE CHANGED THE CAUSE OF DEATH.
Rafe stared at the photograph.
Nico looked toward Marcella.
“Where is Serrano?”
Marcella said nothing.
“Where?”
“He disappeared after Elena died.”
Nico's heart sank.
Rafe checked his phone.
“He didn't disappear.”
Nico looked at him.
Rafe turned the screen around.
A recent passport entry had appeared through one of Rafe's contacts.
Dr. Serrano had entered Switzerland three days earlier.
Nico frowned.
“Why come back now?”
Rafe looked at the USB in Nico's pocket.
“Maybe because someone knew the dress was about to appear.”
Marcella suddenly began looking around.
Her panic returned.
“What?”
She grabbed Nico's arm.
“We have to leave.”
“Why?”
“The wedding.”
“What about it?”
Marcella looked at him.
“Dante's wedding date was changed three months ago.”
Nico remembered.
Originally, Dante was supposed to marry in October.
Marcella had unexpectedly moved the wedding to August.
Nico had never questioned it.
“Why?”
Marcella whispered.
“Because Corrado told me Elena had arranged something to happen tonight.”
Nico stared.
“What?”
“I don't know.”
His phone rang.
Unknown number.
Nico answered.
No one spoke.
Then Elena's voice played.
Nico nearly dropped the phone.
“If Nico Bellandi answers this message, the dead-man protocol has begun.”
Vivia looked up.
“Mommy?”
The recording continued.
“At midnight, every file I collected will be sent to twelve journalists, three prosecutors, and one person inside the Bellandi Council.”
Marcella covered her mouth.
Elena's voice continued.
“But there is a problem.”
“One of the twelve journalists works for them.”
“One prosecutor works for them.”
“And the Council member I trusted may already be dead.”
Nico checked the time.
11:41 p.m.
Nineteen minutes until midnight.
Elena's final sentence played.
“If you want to know who betrayed me, open File Seven before midnight.”
The call ended.
Rafe looked toward the villa.
The USB was still encrypted beyond File One.
May you like
Nico began running.
Eighteen minutes remained.
