Chapter 7 - THE CHILD MARCO WANTED
For twenty-eight years, Matteo had believed the Rossi empire passed through power.
It actually passed through blood.
Arthur found the original family trust within an hour.
Matteo had never read the archaic succession clauses.
Nobody had.
Until now.
If the current family head died or became permanently incapacitated without a living adult sibling, controlling voting rights transferred in trust to the first biological child.
Matteo looked at Norah.
“Our son?”
She touched her stomach.
“We don’t know it’s a boy.”
“You know what I mean.”
Arthur continued.
Until the child turned twenty-five, the appointed family guardian could exercise voting control.
“Who appoints the guardian?”
“Current head.”
“Me.”
“Yes.”
“And if I die before appointing one?”
Arthur’s jaw tightened.
“Nearest surviving paternal blood relative.”
Marco.
Norah went pale.
“He wants Matteo dead.”
Arthur nodded.
“And the baby alive.”
Matteo felt a rage so clean it became calm.
“No.”
Norah looked at him.
He turned to Arthur.
“Change the trust.”
“We can.”
“Today.”
“Matteo—”
“All control transfers to Norah.”
She stared.
“What?”
“If I die, you control every legitimate share until the child is thirty.”
“No.”
“Why?”
“I don’t want your empire.”
“Good.”
He signed.
No argument.
No negotiation.
Arthur looked almost stunned.
The change was filed through three jurisdictions.
Irrevocable.
Marco’s plan lost financial value within an hour.
But Evelyn was still his hostage.
They went to the shipyard at dusk.
Norah stayed in an armored vehicle two blocks away.
Her choice.
Not Matteo’s order.
That distinction mattered.
Matteo entered alone.
Marco waited inside the warehouse.
Older.
Silver-haired.
Alive.
Evelyn sat tied to a chair but unharmed.
“You look like Carlo,” Marco said.
“You killed him.”
“I killed a coward.”
“You killed my father.”
Marco smiled.
“He planned to destroy everything our family built.”
“Maybe he finally understood what it cost.”
That answer surprised Marco.
Good.
“You’ve changed.”
“Apparently infidelity and losing your wife can be educational.”
Even Evelyn almost laughed.
Marco’s smile vanished.
“You think Norah left because of Harper?”
Matteo went still.
“Mostly.”
“No.”
Marco stepped closer.
“She left because she found out what you did seven years ago.”
Matteo frowned.
“What?”
“Ask her about Providence.”
The city name hit something buried.
A warehouse.
A fire.
A dead bookkeeper.
Matteo had been twenty-one.
Trying to prove himself.
He ordered a building burned after being told it contained only contraband records.
Later he learned a man had died inside.
He carried that memory like a stone.
“What does Providence have to do with Norah?”
Marco smiled.
“The man inside that warehouse was Thomas Vale.”
Norah’s father.
Matteo stopped breathing.
“No.”
“Oh, yes.”
“You’re lying.”
“You gave the order.”
“I didn’t know anyone was inside.”
“But Norah knows you gave it.”
Every thought disappeared.
Then Marco delivered the final blow.
May you like
“She found out six months ago.”
The exact month Norah began hiding cash.
