Chapter 15 - THE PAGE FOR VIVIA
They searched the dress at the federal field office.
Not casually.
Not destructively.
A textile conservator was brought in.
Every seam was photographed.
Every alteration documented.
Three separate stitching patterns were identified.
Elena’s original work.
Father Gabriel’s later repairs.
And a third person’s alterations.
The third stitching was the most recent.
Maybe eight years old.
Vivia sat across the room watching.
Nico stood beside her.
Neither discussed Michael’s final sentence.
It’s about your brother.
Finally, the conservator found paper hidden inside the narrow sleeve facing.
She removed two folded sheets.
One was blank from age-related transfer marks.
The other carried Elena’s handwriting.
Vivia did not reach for it.
Nico did.
Then stopped.
“It’s addressed to you.”
She looked at him.
“What if Michael was right?”
“Then we deal with it.”
“What if Mom says something that changes how I see you?”
Nico gave a tired smile.
“After the last twenty-four hours, I’m running out of identities to lose.”
Vivia almost laughed.
Then she took the page.
My dearest Vivia,
If you have found the second half, then someone has probably already told you that Michael is your biological father.
I am sorry that truth comes to you like this.
You deserved to hear it from me.
You also deserve to know why I stayed with Vincent.
Vivia paused.
Nico looked away.
She continued.
Vincent knew before you were born.
I told him.
I expected him to leave me.
He did not.
He sat beside me for a long time.
Then he asked only one question.
“Do you want Michael to raise her?”
I said no.
Vincent answered, “Then she is mine.”
Vivia began crying.
Nico placed a hand on her shoulder.
She kept reading.
Your father did terrible things later.
I will not excuse them because he loved you.
But I will not erase the love either because he failed me.
Human beings are inconveniently capable of both.
Vivia stopped.
“That sounds like her.”
Nico smiled faintly.
“Yes.”
She continued.
Michael will claim Vincent stole you from him.
That is false.
I chose Vincent.
I chose the family we already had.
I chose Nico.
And Vincent chose you.
Vivia pressed the page against her mouth.
For several seconds she could not continue.
Then she reached the paragraph Michael had been afraid of.
There is something else you must understand.
Michael did not remain outside our family because Vincent forced him away.
Carlo forced him away.
Michael and Carlo had been fighting for control of Bellandi Holdings since they were young.
You became useful to Michael the moment he realized your blood could someday support a claim to family ownership.
Vivia’s tears stopped.
Nico leaned closer.
That was the real reason Elena had hidden Vivia’s trust.
Not only to protect shares.
To protect Vivia from Michael’s claim.
Elena continued.
Michael will tell you he wants his daughter.
Part of him may even believe that.
But the first time he asked me to acknowledge you publicly, he did not say, “I want to be her father.”
He said, “With her shares, Carlo can never shut me out again.”
Vivia’s jaw tightened.
Nico whispered.
“There.”
Michael’s obsession was never only paternal.
It was corporate.
Vivia read on.
Now I need to tell you about Nico.
She stopped.
Her heart began pounding.
Nico’s expression hardened.
“Keep going.”
Vivia read.
Your brother does not know I transferred forty percent of my holdings into your trust.
He may believe this means I trusted you more.
It does not.
Nico is Vincent’s legal successor.
He will inherit power whether he wants it or not.
You needed power no one knew you had.
Nico looked down.
Vivia exhaled.
That was not the secret Michael had implied.
She continued.
But there is a document inside the Saint Lucia archive that could destroy Nico if it is ever misunderstood.
Nico stared at her.
“What document?”
Vivia kept reading.
When Nico was twenty-one, Vincent used his electronic signature on a series of transactions Nico never saw.
Those transactions were routed through Michael’s old accounts.
If prosecutors see only the documents, they may believe Nico participated.
Nico’s face went pale.
Rafe, standing near the door, swore.
Elena continued.
I discovered the forgery.
I created proof.
The proof is not on the USB.
I could not risk keeping everything together.
It is with the one person Marcella will never suspect.
Vivia frowned.
Who?
The letter continued.
If he is still alive, find Thomas Vale.
Tell him Elena Bellandi sent you.
Nico looked confused.
“Thomas Vale?”
Rafe’s expression changed.
Nico noticed.
“You know him.”
Rafe nodded.
“Old internal auditor.”
“Where is he?”
“Dead.”
Vivia closed her eyes.
“Of course.”
“When?”
“Six years ago.”
Nico laughed bitterly.
“Another dead man.”
Rafe shook his head.
“Cancer.”
“Are you sure?”
“No.”
Alessia entered holding a tablet.
“Then you’ll want to see this.”
She placed it on the table.
Thomas Vale’s obituary appeared.
Survived by his wife, Marianne.
Two daughters.
And one son.
Ethan Vale.
Vivia read the name.
“Where is Ethan?”
Alessia swiped.
A photograph appeared.
Vivia stared.
She knew him.
Everyone at Nico’s wedding knew him.
Ethan Vale was the hotel’s event manager.
He had personally supervised the ballroom.
He had placed the old memorial table where Vivia displayed Elena’s dress.
He had been standing ten feet away when Marcella struck her.
Nico whispered.
“He was there.”
Rafe looked at the photograph.
“And after the USB fell out…”
Vivia remembered.
Ethan had vanished.
She thought he had gone to call security.
He never returned.
Nico stood.
“Find him.”
Federal agents checked the hotel.
Ethan was gone.
His apartment had been emptied.
His phone was off.
His bank account showed a cash withdrawal the morning before the wedding.
Then Alessia noticed something in event photographs.
Ethan had handled the dress before the reception.
He moved it from the memorial display after a server spilled water nearby.
For seven minutes, Ethan had been alone with it.
Vivia stared.
“He knew.”
Rafe nodded.
“He knew something was inside.”
Nico looked at the third stitching pattern.
“Thomas Vale gave him something.”
Vivia’s phone chimed.
A text.
Unknown number.
A photograph appeared.
Ethan stood beside an old farmhouse.
He held a steel document case.
The message beneath it read:
ELENA TOLD MY FATHER TO GIVE THIS TO NICO ONLY AFTER THE DRESS WAS OPENED.
COME WITHOUT BELLANDI SECURITY.
TRUST NO ONE WEARING THE FAMILY NAME.
Then another message appeared.
Vivia read it twice.
Especially not Marcella.
Especially not Michael.
And, until you see what is in this case…
May you like
Especially not Nico.
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