Chapter 9 - THE GRANDFATHER WHO WANTED ELI
Vincent Caruso had never forgiven me for marrying his son.
He thought I was too ordinary.
Too emotional.
Too unwilling to treat the Caruso name like royalty.
But he adored Eli.
At least, I once believed he did.
Now his attorney claimed Dominic’s resignation, our marital breakdown, and my “unstable public conduct” created risk for our child.
I laughed when Rebecca read that phrase.
Then she showed me the evidence.
Video of the gala.
Me leaving.
Blood on my face.
Conveniently edited so Dominic’s slap was absent.
Only my confrontation with Vanessa.
My threat about reporters.
My departure.
“They’re using the scandal to call me unstable.”
Rebecca nodded.
“Emergency petitions often rely on selective facts.”
“Will it work?”
“Not if we respond quickly.”
Dominic entered the conference room halfway through.
I stood immediately.
“Did you know?”
“No.”
“Don’t lie.”
“I didn’t.”
His face changed when Rebecca showed him the filing.
“My father filed this?”
“Yes.”
Dominic grabbed his phone.
I stopped him.
“Don’t threaten him.”
His jaw tightened.
“I wasn’t going to.”
“Good.”
He called.
Speaker on.
Vincent answered.
“You finally found time.”
Dominic’s voice was low.
“Withdraw the petition.”
“No.”
“Eli stays with Nora.”
Vincent laughed.
“You slapped the woman in public and now you’re defending her maternal stability?”
Dominic went still.
So did I.
Vincent knew about the slap.
Yet submitted edited video hiding it.
He was not protecting Eli.
He was protecting Dominic’s reputation while attacking me.
“Why are you doing this?” Dominic asked.
“Because she is dismantling the company.”
“The company did that itself.”
“She is taking Elena’s shares.”
“They may belong to her.”
Silence.
Then Vincent said:
“They were never supposed to activate.”
My pulse changed.
Dominic noticed.
“What does that mean?”
Vincent exhaled.
“Your mother wrote that clause while she was sick.”
“No.”
“She was angry.”
“Answer the question.”
Vincent’s voice sharpened.
“I made sure no spouse would ever qualify.”
My skin went cold.
“How?”
Dominic asked.
“By controlling who entered the design division.”
I looked at Dominic.
This went back farther than him.
Vincent continued.
“When you wanted to marry Nora, I warned you.”
“You told me she was unsuitable.”
“I told you more than that.”
Dominic’s face changed.
“What?”
“You think the idea to keep Nora out of Caruso was yours?”
Silence.
Then Dominic’s eyes closed.
Memory.
A conversation he had reframed as his own fear.
Vincent had planted it.
That did not absolve him.
But it widened the story.
“What did you do?” Dominic asked.
“Protected what Elena built.”
“No.”
His voice became cold.
“You protected your control.”
Vincent laughed.
“You sound like your mother.”
“Good.”
The word shocked everyone.
Dominic’s father went silent.
Then Dominic said:
“Withdraw the custody petition or I testify against you regarding interference with Elena’s trust.”
Vincent replied:
“You don’t have evidence.”
A new voice entered from the conference-room doorway.
“Yes, he does.”
We turned.
An elderly woman stood there.
Seventy, perhaps.
Silver hair.
Walking cane.
I recognized her from old Caruso photographs.
Elena’s younger sister.
Sofia Bell.
She had lived in Italy for years.
Dominic whispered:
“Aunt Sofia?”
She smiled sadly.
“Your mother knew Vincent would try to bury the clause.”
Vincent went silent on speaker.
Sofia continued.
“So she gave me the original codicil.”
My heart raced.
“What does it say?”
Sofia looked at me.
“More than anyone told you.”
She placed a sealed document on the table.
“Elena did not leave fifteen percent to Dominic’s designer spouse.”
I frowned.
“What?”
“She left it specifically to the woman Dominic married.”
My breath stopped.
May you like
Sofia smiled.
“To Nora.”
