Chapter 14 - VIVIAN’S PLAN
Vivian’s plan was reckless.
Thomas hated it.
Vincent hated it more.
I liked it immediately.
That concerned me.
Jonathan expected us to bring the red ledger to Belladonna House.
So we would.
Just not the real one.
Federal technicians created an exact replica.
A tracking device was hidden inside the spine.
Vincent publicly left the estate.
Thomas removed visible federal vehicles.
The household staff were evacuated.
By eleven forty-five, Belladonna House appeared empty.
Vivian and I waited inside the ballroom.
The same ballroom where she had humiliated me.
The broken champagne glasses were gone.
The riding crop was gone.
The stain had been cleaned.
But I could still see every second.
Vivian noticed where I was looking.
“I’m sorry.”
I looked at her.
She swallowed.
“I know that doesn’t fix anything.”
“No.”
“I know blaming my father doesn’t excuse me.”
“No.”
“I wanted you beneath me.”
The honesty surprised me.
“Why?”
“Because I was terrified you belonged here more than I did.”
I stared.
“You knew before the party.”
“I suspected.”
“My father told me if the locket was real, you could become the most powerful woman connected to the Morettis.”
“I was cleaning bathrooms.”
“I know.”
Her face tightened.
“That made it worse.”
“What?”
“You weren’t trying.”
I frowned.
“To be powerful?”
“Yes.”
She laughed bitterly.
“I spent my entire life trying to become important enough to survive men like my father.”
“And you walked in wearing a burgundy uniform and didn’t care whether anyone considered you important.”
I almost smiled.
“I cared.”
“You didn’t act like it.”
“That’s because rich people never tipped me extra for caring.”
She laughed.
A real laugh.
Then stopped.
“I hated you because you made me feel ridiculous.”
“That’s still not an excuse.”
“No.”
“But it’s the truth.”
Footsteps sounded upstairs.
We became still.
The ballroom doors opened.
Jonathan Reed entered.
He looked exactly as he had during every executive meeting.
Gray suit.
Blue tie.
Calm expression.
My biological father looked like an accountant arriving late for dinner.
Behind him Ethan Pike pushed Salvatore into the room.
Salvatore’s hands were bound.
Vivian stared at her father.
He stared back.
Neither spoke.
Jonathan smiled at me.
“Isabella.”
“Julian.”
His smile widened.
“I wondered when someone would finally use my real name.”
“You lied about almost everything else.”
“Names are tools.”
“My mother disagreed.”
His expression flickered.
“Your mother was sentimental.”
“My mother survived you.”
“For a while.”
Vincent’s voice came through the hidden earpiece.
Stay calm.
I hated him hearing everything.
I also found it comforting.
Jonathan looked at Vivian.
“You brought the ledger?”
She held up the replica.
“Release my father.”
Salvatore laughed hoarsely.
“Don’t pretend you care.”
Vivian looked at him.
“I don’t.”
The words hit him harder than expected.
“I care about hearing you admit what you did to Mom.”
His face changed.
Jonathan looked amused.
“Family reunions.”
“Always disappointing.”
I stepped closer.
“What do you want with the ledger?”
“Insurance.”
“Against what?”
“Everyone.”
“You already have money.”
“Money without leverage is temporary.”
“Is that what my mother was to you?”
His expression hardened.
“Alessandra made choices.”
“She chose Daniel.”
“She chose herself.”
“She chose to humiliate me.”
“She discovered you were lying.”
“She chose the wrong man.”
I looked at Gabriel’s empty place in my life.
“Daniel made mistakes.”
“But at least he loved her.”
Jonathan’s jaw tightened.
“He abandoned her.”
“Because people like you threatened everyone around them.”
“You know nothing.”
“I know she spent twenty-eight years hiding from you.”
That struck.
He stepped closer.
For the first time, anger cracked his polished surface.
“She belonged to me.”
My skin crawled.
“No person belongs to another.”
“You sound like her.”
“Good.”
His hand curled.
Ethan moved slightly.
Vivian held up the ledger.
“That’s close enough.”
Jonathan stopped.
“Give it to me.”
“Father first.”
He nodded toward Ethan.
Ethan cut Salvatore’s restraints.
Salvatore stood.
Vivian did not move toward him.
Jonathan extended his hand.
“The ledger.”
Vivian threw it across the marble floor.
It slid to his feet.
He picked it up.
Opened it.
Flipped several pages.
Then smiled.
“Did you really think I wouldn’t recognize a reproduction?”
My stomach dropped.
Vincent’s voice sounded in my ear.
Move.
Jonathan looked toward the chandelier.
“Vincent.”
We froze.
He smiled.
“I know you’re listening.”
Then he crushed the hidden tracking device beneath his shoe.
Thomas’s team had been compromised.
Again.
Ethan drew a weapon.
Before he could raise it, Salvatore slammed into him.
The weapon slid across the floor.
Vivian screamed.
Federal agents entered from both doors.
Jonathan ran.
I followed.
That was stupid.
I knew it immediately.
But he was carrying the only knowledge connecting my mother to decades of lies.
He disappeared into the western corridor.
I ran after him.
“Isabella!”
Vincent shouted behind me.
Jonathan reached the hidden corridor.
He knew Alessandra’s room.
Of course he did.
He opened the door.
I followed.
He stopped beside the vanity.
The secret compartment stood open.
“You think your mother hid everything from me.”
He laughed.
“She learned hiding from me.”
I remained near the door.
“You manipulated her.”
“She manipulated everyone.”
“She was nineteen.”
“She was twenty-three when you were born.”
“And you lied about who you were.”
His face hardened.
“I gave her an opportunity.”
“To what?”
“Rule.”
“She wanted a normal life.”
“Normal people are forgotten.”
“She wasn’t.”
He looked at me.
“No.”
“She wasn’t.”
For one second something like grief crossed his face.
Then it vanished.
He reached beneath the bed.
A second compartment opened.
I stared.
Inside was a small wooden box.
“You knew.”
“I built it.”
“What’s inside?”
“The original paternity documents.”
My pulse accelerated.
He opened the box.
Old papers.
A blood test.
Letters.
Proof.
He lifted a lighter.
I stepped forward.
“No.”
“Stay back.”
He sparked the flame.
“You spent twenty-eight years trying to create a Moretti claim.”
“Not anymore.”
“Then why destroy proof?”
“Because I no longer need the name.”
He touched the flame to the corner.
The paper caught.
I lunged.
He shoved me backward.
I hit the mattress.
Vincent entered.
Jonathan froze.
Vincent crossed the room in seconds.
He knocked the burning documents onto the floor.
Stamped out the flame.
Jonathan swung.
Vincent blocked him.
No dramatic fight followed.
No endless punches.
Vincent simply caught his arm.
Twisted him off balance.
And forced him against the wall.
Federal agents rushed in.
Jonathan laughed even while restrained.
“You think this ends anything?”
Vincent looked at him.
“It ends your ability to walk through my house.”
Jonathan turned toward me.
“You want the truth about your mother?”
“I already have it.”
“No.”
His smile made my stomach turn.
“You have the version she wanted you to find.”
I stared.
“What does that mean?”
“She didn’t die of cancer.”
The room became silent.
I felt my entire body go cold.
“That is a lie.”
“Ask Gabriel.”
I looked at Vincent.
Then back at Jonathan.
“My mother had cancer.”
“Yes.”
“She was dying.”
“Yes.”
“But she still had weeks.”
My breath disappeared.
Jonathan smiled.
“Daniel visited her three weeks before she died.”
“He was the last person from Belladonna House to see her alive.”
I shook my head.
“No.”
Jonathan’s smile widened.
“If I were you, daughter…”
May you like
“I would ask why Teresa Romano died less than twelve hours after Gabriel Vale left her room.”
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