Chapter 6 - THE AGREEMENT WRITTEN IN MY MOTHER'S NAME
By Friday morning, Carlo Bellini intended to walk into my foundation's headquarters and take control of something worth far more than Elena's trust.
But the most terrifying part was not his name on the transfer document.
It was the word beside it.
Beneficiary.
I sat in the back of Rocco's car, studying the ledger while Elena stared out the window.
She had barely spoken since we left the storage facility.
Finally, she turned to me.
"Mr. Duca, I need to ask you something."
"Ask."
"If my mother knew these people were dangerous, why did she leave me connected to your family?"
It was a fair question.
And I did not know the answer.
"Maybe she believed my father would protect you."
"But he died."
"Yes."
"And your mother forgot."
I looked at her.
There was no accusation in her voice.
Only exhaustion.
She had spent years struggling to raise Mia, believing her life depended on each paycheck.
Meanwhile, a fortune had been sitting in a trust bearing her name.
People had known.
People had hidden it.
And I was the head of the family that had failed to tell her.
"I'm sorry," I said.
She looked away.
"I don't want your apology yet."
I nodded.
She continued.
"I want to understand how a woman can spend four years cleaning a house while the people inside it know her mother helped save their lives."
Her words landed exactly where they should have.
I had no defense.
Back at the estate, I asked Rocco to arrange a secure meeting with an independent forensic accountant and outside legal counsel.
Not men who owed loyalty to the Duca name.
People who could examine the trust and financial records without being pressured by either family.
But first, I wanted to speak to Vivien.
She was waiting in the breakfast room.
Her suitcase stood beside the door.
I stopped.
"Going somewhere?"
She looked terrible.
Her eyes were red.
Her carefully styled hair had come loose.
"Adrian wants me to stay at his house."
"Why?"
She laughed bitterly.
"Because apparently I'm not safe here anymore."
I crossed the room.
"Who told you that?"
"Does it matter?"
"Yes."
She looked at me.
Then she said something I hadn't expected.
"I heard you found the box."
I remained silent.
Vivien's shoulders dropped.
"So it's started."
"What has?"
She rubbed her forehead.
"Lorenzo, I need you to understand something. I didn't come into this relationship intending to hurt anyone."
"Then what changed?"
She looked toward the window.
"My father."
I waited.
She whispered, "He isn't dead."
"I know."
Her head snapped toward me.
For several seconds, she could only stare.
Then she covered her mouth.
"Oh, God."
"How long have you known?"
"Three months."
That answer surprised me.
"You didn't know before?"
She shook her head.
"I buried him, Lorenzo. I stood beside that coffin. I spent fifteen years believing he was dead."
"Then he came back?"
"Not in person."
She looked at me.
"Adrian showed me a recording. Father was alive. Older, sick, angry."
"What did he want?"
"You."
I felt my stomach tighten.
"Why?"
"Because your father took something from him."
"The ledgers?"
"No."
She shook her head.
"Control."
Vivien sat down.
"My father believed he had built a financial empire. Your father dismantled it when he discovered what the businesses were doing. He preserved the assets for the people who had been exploited."
I thought of the trust.
"The money belongs to the victims."
"Most of it."
"Then what is Elena's forty-two million?"
Vivien's eyes filled.
"The settlement reserve Sofia protected. Your father placed it in her daughter's name because Sofia had agreed to testify and lost everything helping him. The trust also pays claims to affected families."
I leaned forward.
"So stealing Elena's control would give your father access to money meant for people he harmed."
She nodded.
"Stephen found a way to combine that control with a disputed holding-company claim."
"Stephen is your brother."
Vivien closed her eyes.
"You know that too."
"Why did you hide him?"
"Because Father used him. He was twelve when the scandal began. He grew up believing our family was robbed."
I looked at her.
"And you?"
She hesitated.
"I used to believe it."
"Now?"
"I don't know what to believe anymore."
For a moment, I could see the young woman who had once made me laugh during long dinners.
The woman who had stayed beside me when the anniversary of Matteo's death made conversation difficult.
I had loved that woman.
Perhaps parts of her had been real.
But then I remembered Mia trembling beside the bedroom door.
"You threatened Elena's daughter."
Vivien began crying.
"I know."
"You told her children disappear."
"I wanted her frightened enough to cooperate."
"Cooperate with what?"
"Giving up her claim."
I stared at her.
"And you thought threatening a child was acceptable?"
"No."
Her voice broke.
"No, Lorenzo. I knew it was wrong."
"Then why?"
She looked up.
"Because Adrian showed me photographs of Father meeting with men who worked for people even you don't control. He said if we didn't recover the accounts, Father would come after all of us."
She wiped her face.
"I thought if Elena surrendered the trust, everyone would be left alone."
I wanted to believe she had been manipulated.
But her suffering did not erase Elena's terror.
"You could have told me."
"Would you have believed me?"
"Maybe not immediately. But I would have listened."
She looked down.
"I stopped believing anyone could protect me from him."
Before I could answer, Rocco entered.
"Lorenzo. We have the results from the financial review."
Vivien stood.
Rocco looked at her.
Then at me.
"She's staying," I said. "For now."
He placed several pages on the table.
"The proposed transfer doesn't just concern the trust. It would put Duca Foundation properties under Belltower Holdings as security for fabricated liabilities."
"How?"
"Old guarantees. Your father's signature appears on them."
I looked at the document.
There was the same signature problem.
My father had supposedly authorized obligations years after he became too ill to conduct business.
"Forgeries," I said.
"Likely. But they've been circulating between companies for years."
I turned to Vivien.
"Did you know?"
She shook her head.
"Not about the foundation."
Rocco continued.
"There's another problem. The meeting tomorrow has been moved forward."
"To when?"
"Tonight. Seven."
"Where?"
"The foundation's private conference room."
I looked at the clock.
Four forty-five.
Vivien stood motionless.
Then she whispered, "He's coming."
"Your father?"
She nodded.
"He told Adrian he wanted to see you before the papers were signed."
I looked toward the window.
"And what happens if I don't sign?"
Vivien stared at the floor.
"He said you'd make the right choice once you saw what he had."
"What does he have?"
She hesitated.
Then her expression changed.
She crossed the room and opened her handbag.
Inside was a small pink hair ribbon.
I recognized it.
Mia had worn it that morning.
I stood.
"Where did you get that?"
Vivien's fingers trembled.
"Adrian gave it to me an hour ago."
My voice dropped.
"Explain."
"He said I should show you this if you refused to listen."
I took the ribbon.
There was a folded message tied around it.
Only six words.
"The little girl is already ours."
I looked at Rocco.
"Where is Mia?"
He reached for his radio.
A moment later, his face changed.
May you like
Then he said the words that turned my fear into something far colder.
"She's missing from the nursery."
