Chapter 8 - Twelve Pearls
Every eye in the ballroom moved toward the dress.
Sofia reacted first.
“Take it.”
Two guards advanced.
Rafe stepped in front of Vivia.
Nico moved beside him.
Marcella unexpectedly moved too.
Then Dante.
For the first time that night, the Bellandis stood together.
Sofia smiled.
“You have no idea what you're protecting.”
Nico looked at Vivia.
“Yes, I do.”
“My daughter.”
Marcella looked toward the guards.
“You touch her, and you will have to go through me.”
Nico glanced at his sister.
Marcella did not look back.
Sofia sighed.
“You always were dramatic, Isabella.”
Isabella stepped beside her children.
“And you always confused cruelty with strength.”
Sofia raised one hand.
The guards stopped.
“Fine.”
“Open the buttons.”
Vivia held the dress tighter.
“No.”
Sofia's smile disappeared.
Nico crouched beside Vivia.
“Sweetheart.”
She looked at him.
“Did Mommy show you which button?”
Vivia nodded.
“The one closest to her heart.”
Nico swallowed.
He carefully examined the bodice.
Twelve pearl buttons ran along the back.
One near the left side looked slightly larger.
Nico twisted it.
The pearl separated into two halves.
Inside was a tiny rolled strip of film.
Rafe stared.
“Microfilm.”
Sofia's composure cracked.
“Give me that.”
Nico closed his hand.
“No.”
Sofia's guards moved again.
Then police sirens erupted outside.
Sofia frowned.
Rafe smiled.
“You really thought I walked in without calling anyone?”
Corrado laughed.
“You called the local police.”
Rafe shook his head.
“No.”
Heavy vehicles entered the courtyard.
Rafe continued.
“I called the national financial crimes unit.”
Corrado stopped smiling.
Sofia looked toward Isabella.
“You.”
Isabella smiled faintly.
“I've been pretending to be helpless for four years.”
“You thought I spent all that time doing nothing?”
The ballroom doors burst open.
Officers entered.
Sofia's guards hesitated.
Their advantage disappeared instantly.
Weapons were lowered.
Corrado attempted to move toward the side door.
Dante blocked him.
“Going somewhere?”
Corrado stopped.
Nico handed the microfilm to the lead investigator.
“No local chain of custody.”
“Understood.”
The investigator sealed it immediately.
Sofia laughed softly.
“You think a strip of film will destroy us?”
Nico looked at her.
“I don't know.”
“But you seem worried.”
Sofia was arrested.
Corrado was arrested again.
This time national officers transported him.
Marcella remained untouched.
Nico noticed.
“Why isn't she being arrested?”
The investigator looked at Marcella.
“Because she contacted us three months ago.”
Nico stared.
Marcella closed her eyes.
“What?”
The investigator continued.
“Mrs. Marcella Bellandi approached our office claiming she had evidence of systematic fraud within Bellandi Industries.”
Nico looked at his sister.
“You were investigating them?”
Marcella spoke quietly.
“I was trying to get out.”
“You struck my daughter tonight.”
Marcella flinched.
“I know.”
“You tried to destroy the USB.”
“I know.”
“You warned Corrado about Elena.”
Marcella's eyes filled with tears.
“I know.”
Nico stepped closer.
“What exactly were you trying to get out of?”
Marcella looked toward the officers escorting Sofia away.
“The council.”
Nico laughed bitterly.
“You were part of it.”
“Yes.”
Marcella didn't deny it.
“I moved money for them.”
“I signed false reports.”
“I bribed officials.”
“I helped hide Mother's disappearance.”
“And when Elena started digging, I tried to frighten her.”
Nico stared.
“But after she died?”
Marcella looked toward Vivia.
“Everything changed.”
“Why?”
“Because Corrado came to my house.”
“He showed me photographs of Dante.”
Dante frowned.
“Me?”
Marcella nodded.
“He told me Elena had died because she refused to cooperate.”
“He told me the same could happen to my son.”
Dante stared at his mother.
Marcella continued.
“That is when I understood I had never been part of the council.”
“I was property.”
Nico's anger didn't disappear.
But something shifted.
“Then why attack Vivia?”
Marcella covered her face.
“Because I panicked.”
“That isn't an excuse.”
“I know.”
“I recognized the dress.”
“Elena showed me where she had sewn the USB.”
Nico frowned.
“She trusted you?”
“No.”
“She wanted me to know she had evidence.”
“She told me if anything happened to her, I should tell you about the dress.”
Nico's jaw tightened.
“You had eleven months.”
Marcella began crying.
“I failed.”
“Yes.”
“I know.”
Vivia walked toward them.
Nico immediately moved.
Vivia gently pulled his hand.
“Daddy.”
He looked down.
She stared at Marcella.
“Why did you hit me?”
The question devastated Marcella more than any accusation from Nico.
Marcella knelt.
Tears ran freely down her face.
“Because I was scared.”
Vivia frowned.
“Being scared doesn't make hitting okay.”
Marcella shut her eyes.
“No.”
“It doesn't.”
Vivia looked at her cheek.
“Daddy hit you too.”
Nico stiffened.
Marcella looked at him.
For one uncomfortable second, neither adult spoke.
Vivia continued.
“Mommy said hitting people makes lies louder.”
Nico felt shame cut through his anger.
He crouched beside his daughter.
“You're right.”
Vivia studied him.
“You're sorry?”
“Yes.”
Marcella whispered.
“So am I.”
Vivia did not hug her.
She did not forgive her.
She simply nodded.
“Okay.”
Then she returned to Rafe.
The investigator approached Nico.
“We've developed the microfilm.”
“That quickly?”
“We photographed it digitally.”
“What is on it?”
The investigator handed Nico a tablet.
Twenty-seven pages appeared.
Names.
Payments.
Dates.
Politicians.
Judges.
Police officials.
Corporate executives.
At the bottom of the last page was a handwritten line.
Nico recognized his father's handwriting.
If I die before the restructuring is complete, Vivia Bellandi receives controlling voting rights upon legal confirmation of her birth.
Nico stared.
The investigator swiped to another image.
A signature appeared.
Not Salvatore's.
Elena's.
Beneath it was a second line.
The only original confirmation is stored where Nico asked me to marry him.
Nico's breath caught.
Rafe looked over his shoulder.
“Where did you propose?”
Nico stared at the sentence.
“Lake Como.”
Marcella whispered.
“The boathouse.”
Nico nodded.
A memory returned.
Rain.
Elena laughing.
A broken wooden pier.
Her saying yes before he had even finished asking.
Rafe spoke.
“Then that's where the original proof is.”
Nico's phone vibrated.
A security alert appeared.
May you like
The Bellandi boathouse at Lake Como was on fire.
Someone had arrived before them.
