Chapter 9 - THE MAN BEHIND BOTH FAMILIES
Dominic’s biological father was alive.
Or had been recently enough to appear in a criminal DNA archive.
That single fact destroyed Margaret’s story.
Luca Bellini might not be his father at all.
Vincent’s letter could have been manipulated.
Emma’s adoption record definitely had been.
Someone had been rewriting bloodlines for decades.
Dominic called a private forensic genealogist.
By evening, they had a likely match.
Anthony Vale.
Seventy-one.
Former Moretti financial adviser.
Convicted of tax fraud fifteen years earlier.
Currently living in Wisconsin.
Dominic knew the name.
Anthony had attended family dinners when Dominic was a child.
He remembered a tall man who always brought books as gifts.
His mother hated him.
Now Dominic understood why.
They drove to Wisconsin the next morning.
Emma insisted on coming.
Dominic objected once.
She looked at him.
He stopped objecting.
Anthony Vale lived in a modest house near Lake Geneva.
He opened the door and stared at Dominic for a long time.
Then at Emma.
“Oh, God.”
Dominic’s jaw tightened.
“You know us.”
Anthony stepped back.
“Come inside.”
The living room was full of old photographs.
Dominic spotted Margaret in several.
Young.
Beautiful.
Smiling.
Beside Anthony.
Too close.
He turned.
“You’re my father.”
Anthony closed his eyes.
“Yes.”
Dominic laughed once.
Not from humor.
From exhaustion.
“Does everyone except me know who my parents are?”
Anthony looked ashamed.
“I wanted to tell you.”
“When?”
“Every year.”
“But you didn’t.”
“Margaret threatened to destroy your life.”
“She already did.”
Anthony flinched.
Emma asked, “What about me?”
Anthony looked at her.
“You were never a Moretti.”
“Then why the adoption record?”
“To make you appear connected to the Bellinis.”
“Why?”
Anthony sat down.
“Because Margaret needed the Bellini trust.”
Dominic frowned.
“What trust?”
Anthony explained.
Luca Bellini had created a private family trust before his death.
It contained industrial land later worth hundreds of millions.
The trust passed only through verified descendants.
Margaret had once been engaged to Luca.
But they never had a child.
So she invented one.
Dominic.
“She forged records saying you were Luca’s son.”
Dominic stared.
“Vincent knew?”
“Yes.”
“Why would he support it?”
“Money.”
That answer felt more believable than love.
Emma asked, “And me?”
“Margaret needed a second Bellini descendant to reinforce the claim.”
“So she altered my adoption records.”
“Yes.”
“Why me?”
Anthony looked at her.
“Because your real mother worked for Margaret.”
Emma froze.
“Who?”
Anthony hesitated.
“Catherine Reed.”
Emma stared.
“Reed?”
Dominic’s face changed.
Vanessa Reed.
“No.”
Anthony nodded.
“Vanessa is Catherine’s daughter.”
Emma stopped breathing.
“Vanessa is my sister?”
“Half-sister.”
The room went silent.
Emma thought of Vanessa.
Pregnant.
Protected by Margaret.
Always treated more gently.
Margaret knew.
Of course she knew.
Anthony continued.
“Catherine had Emma first. She was unmarried. Margaret arranged a private adoption. Years later, Catherine married and had Vanessa.”
Emma’s knees weakened.
Dominic caught her elbow.
She pulled away automatically.
He released her.
Anthony looked devastated.
“I’m sorry.”
Emma laughed bitterly.
“That seems to be everyone’s favorite sentence.”
Dominic asked, “Why did Margaret connect Emma to the Bellinis?”
“Because Emma was already in her orbit. Catherine worked for the family. Margaret could control the records.”
“And then she introduced us.”
“Yes.”
“To marry us.”
“Yes.”
Dominic felt rage climb into his chest.
Anthony continued.
“She believed if two supposedly Bellini-descended people married and produced a child, the legal claim would become almost impossible to challenge.”
Emma put a hand over her stomach.
“So this baby is about property.”
“To Margaret?”
Anthony looked at her sadly.
“Yes.”
Dominic stood.
“No.”
Everyone looked at him.
“This baby is not hers.”
He looked at Emma.
“None of this is hers anymore.”
Before Emma could answer, Anthony’s phone rang.
He looked at the screen.
Margaret.
Everyone froze.
Anthony answered.
“Margaret.”
Her voice came through speaker.
“You have company.”
Anthony looked toward the windows.
Dominic stood.
“How do you know?”
Margaret ignored him.
Then she addressed Emma.
“Sweetheart.”
Emma’s face hardened.
“Don’t call me that.”
Margaret sighed.
“I suppose Anthony told you everything.”
“Enough.”
“No.”
Margaret sounded almost amused.
“He told you the version that makes him look innocent.”
Anthony went pale.
Dominic noticed.
“What version?”
Margaret continued.
“Ask Anthony why Catherine Reed died.”
Emma stared at him.
Anthony said nothing.
Margaret laughed softly.
“Ask him who was driving the car.”
May you like
Anthony closed his eyes.
Emma whispered, “You killed my mother?”
