Chapter 4 - The Inheritance Nobody Told Isabella Existed

Arturo Bellini did not deny it immediately.

That frightened me more than if he had shouted.

He simply looked at Isabella and said, “Your mother misunderstood a complicated business arrangement.”

Isabella held the letter with both hands.

“She says I inherited thirty-two percent of Moretti Textile Properties from my grandmother.”

Arturo exhaled.

“Paper ownership. Nothing more.”

Luca took the letter from his sister.

“What happened to those shares?”

Arturo shrugged.

“The company was reorganized.”

“By whom?”

“Your father. Your uncle Carlo. Their lawyers.”

“My mother says her signature was forged.”

Arturo’s eyes narrowed.

“Your mother was not an accountant.”

“No,” Luca said. “But she knew her own signature.”

He opened the black notebook.

Page after page contained dates, account numbers, names, and amounts.

Sofia Moretti had documented everything.

Twenty years earlier, when Isabella was eleven, shares intended for her had been transferred into a holding company controlled by Carlo Moretti and Arturo Bellini.

The documents claimed Sofia had approved the transfer as guardian.

According to her notebook, she had not.

She had discovered it six months before her death.

My throat tightened.

“How did Mrs. Moretti die?” I asked before I could stop myself.

Luca looked at me.

“Car accident.”

Nobody spoke.

I immediately regretted asking.

Then Isabella whispered, “Three months after she wrote this.”

Arturo slammed his hand against the desk.

“Enough.”

Marco took one step forward.

Arturo pointed at the notebook.

“That woman suspected everyone by the end.”

Luca’s eyes went cold.

“Do not speak about my mother that way in her house.”

“This was your father’s house.”

“My mother chose every stone in it.”

Arturo smiled bitterly.

“And your father chose who paid for it.”

That sentence seemed to confuse everyone except Luca.

He opened the second envelope.

Inside were copies of wire transfers.

Millions of dollars had moved from a Moretti family trust into Bellini Logistics.

Some were labeled loans.

Some were labeled property acquisitions.

All carried Isabella’s trust number.

Luca looked at his sister.

“Did you ever authorize any of this?”

She shook her head.

“I didn’t even know the trust existed.”

Vanessa whispered, “Neither did I.”

Arturo turned on her.

“Stop talking.”

She flinched.

For the first time, I wondered how long Vanessa had been afraid of her own father.

It did not excuse what she had done.

But it explained the panic in her face.

Luca opened the third envelope.

This one contained a handwritten note from Sofia.

Luca,

If you are reading this, then I failed to correct what was done.

Do not act in anger.

Do not become your father at his worst.

Protect your sister first.

The originals are in Box 317.

Trust documents, not promises.

And remember: the person who tries hardest to destroy the dress is not afraid of the dress.

They are afraid of what I hid inside it.

Luca stopped reading.

His eyes closed.

Isabella began to cry.

Vanessa looked down.

Arturo said nothing.

Then Luca opened the fourth envelope.

It was empty.

He frowned.

“There should be something else.”

Vanessa looked up too quickly.

Luca noticed.

“What was in the fourth envelope?”

“Nothing.”

“Vanessa.”

“I swear.”

Marco walked toward her.

She stepped back.

“I didn’t take anything.”

Arturo said, “This has gone far enough. Call your attorney, Luca. Let adults deal with old corporate paperwork.”

Luca looked at him.

“I already did.”

The study doors opened.

An elderly man entered carrying a leather briefcase.

Henry Russo had been the Moretti family attorney for thirty-seven years.

He was seventy-four now.

Thin.

Silver-haired.

And when he saw the key marked 317, he nearly dropped his briefcase.

“Where did you get that?”

Luca stood.

“My mother sewed it into her wedding dress.”

Henry stared at the key for a long time.

Then he looked at Arturo.

“You told us that box had been closed.”

Arturo’s face became unreadable.

Luca’s voice hardened.

“You knew about Box 317?”

Henry nodded slowly.

“Your mother came to me two days before she died.”

Isabella covered her mouth.

“What did she give you?”

“Instructions.”

“For what?”

Henry looked at Luca.

“To release the bank box when both you and Isabella were present.”

“Then why didn’t you?”

The old lawyer’s face filled with shame.

“Because after the accident, your father ordered me to forget it existed.”

Luca took one step back.

“My father knew?”

Henry lowered his eyes.

“Yes.”

The room seemed to tilt.

Luca’s father had been dead for nine years.

All this time, Luca had spoken about him with the complicated respect of a son who had inherited both a business and a reputation.

Now the respect vanished.

Henry continued.

“Your father said exposing Carlo and Arturo would start a war inside the family. He promised Isabella’s shares would be restored quietly.”

“Were they?”

“No.”

Isabella laughed through her tears.

“So everyone knew except me.”

Henry did not answer.

Luca put the brass key into his pocket.

“We’re going to the bank.”

Arturo stepped in front of him.

“Box 317 belongs to Bellini Logistics.”

Henry shook his head.

“No.”

Arturo turned.

The old lawyer looked him directly in the eyes.

“It belongs to Sofia Moretti’s children.”

Arturo’s jaw tightened.

Then Henry added something none of us expected.

“And if Sofia followed my instructions, the box contains the only original copy of the agreement that can destroy the Bellini acquisition.”

Vanessa went completely white.

May you like

[COMPLETED] “GET YOUR HANDS OFF MY DRESS! YOU’RE NOTHING BUT AN OLD SEAM...

[COMPLETED] At the Mafia Boss's Engagement Party, I Served His Hungry So...

[COMPLETED] The Mafia Boss’s Fiancée Tried to Dismiss His Father’s Loyal...

Because their wedding was in twelve days.

And Luca had been scheduled to sign the acquisition papers the next morning.