Chapter 5 - The Trust That Could Break the Engagement

Alessandro Vescari arrived at the Grand Atoria at 1:12 in the morning.

He did not look surprised.

That frightened Emma more than anger would have.

He entered the library in a dark overcoat, glanced once at Belini, then at the documents spread across the table.

His eyes stopped on Matteo’s photograph.

“So,” he said quietly. “Vittorio finally lost the argument.”

Luca did not offer him a chair.

“What argument?”

Alessandro removed his gloves.

“Whether truth matters more than survival.”

Emma hated him immediately.

Not because he looked dangerous.

Because he looked tired.

As though her life were an old business problem.

“You knew who I was.”

He looked at her.

“Yes.”

“How long?”

“Since your mother was pregnant.”

Emma’s fingers curled.

“Did you kill Matteo?”

Belini turned.

“Emma—”

“No.”

Alessandro’s answer came cleanly.

“Then who did?”

“I don’t know.”

Luca stepped closer.

“That answer has a short life.”

Alessandro did not move.

“Your uncle discovered money being stolen. He assumed the Vescari family controlled the theft because our companies were used.”

“Did you?”

“Some of them.”

Emma stared.

“Some?”

Alessandro looked toward the fire.

“My father did business with men I spent thirty years trying to remove from our companies.”

“Convenient,” Luca said.

“True.”

Dante entered carrying another folder.

“Boss.”

He placed a banking record on the table.

Two million dollars.

Transferred the week before Matteo’s death.

From a Vescari holding company.

To a marine maintenance contractor.

The same contractor that serviced Matteo’s boat.

Belini went white.

Alessandro looked at the record.

Then sat down without being asked.

“My father.”

Luca’s eyes narrowed.

“You knew?”

“I suspected.”

“Did Vittorio?”

“Yes.”

“Then why did he keep doing business with you?”

Alessandro gave a humorless smile.

“Because families like ours rarely get to choose clean allies.”

Emma felt disgust.

“You all knew.”

Nobody answered.

“You knew Matteo may have been murdered. You knew my mother was afraid. You knew I existed.”

Her voice shook.

“And everyone decided protecting companies mattered more than telling a child who she was.”

Isabella began crying silently.

Emma looked away.

Luca did not.

He looked at Alessandro.

“The marriage agreement is void.”

Belini stiffened.

“Luca.”

He ignored her.

“The shares used in the Vescari alliance belong to Emma’s trust.”

Alessandro nodded.

“That is why my daughter was supposed to recover the envelope before Isabella gave it to you.”

Belini turned on him.

“Supposed to?”

Alessandro looked at her.

“You asked me to be honest.”

Her face changed.

Emma understood.

Belini had known.

But not everything.

Alessandro had used his own daughter too.

Luca looked between them.

“What else are you hiding?”

Alessandro hesitated.

Then reached inside his coat.

Dante moved instantly.

Alessandro raised one hand.

“Paper.”

He removed a sealed document.

Old.

Folded.

Moretti stationery.

“I kept this for twenty-four years.”

Luca took it.

Vittorio’s handwriting covered the first page.

Emma watched him read.

His jaw tightened.

“What is it?” Isabella whispered.

Luca looked at his mother.

“My father’s second will.”

Isabella went still.

“I never saw one.”

“No one was supposed to.”

Emma felt the floor disappear beneath her again.

“Why?”

Luca looked at her.

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 this one names you.”

And this time, it does not only give you Matteo’s shares.