Chapter 14 - THE FORTUNE I NEVER WANTED
Eighty million dollars.
I stared at Dominic.
Then at the document.
Then back at Dominic.
“That's a typo.”
Marcus leaned over my shoulder.
“Nope.”
I swallowed.
“Maybe the decimal point is missing.”
Marcus shook his head.
“Also nope.”
I sat down.
For twenty-nine years, I'd worried about rent.
Car payments.
Groceries.
The cost of replacing worn-out shoes.
And now someone was telling me I might own part of an eighty-million-dollar trust.
I began laughing.
Not because it was funny.
Because my brain had apparently decided laughter was the only reasonable response.
Dominic watched me.
“Rachel?”
I wiped my eyes.
“I'm sorry. It's just…”
I looked at the document.
“Yesterday I was comparing laundry detergent prices.”
Marcus laughed.
Dominic smiled.
A real smile.
For the first time since I'd met him, the most feared mafia boss in Westchester County looked almost ordinary.
Then his expression grew serious.
“The trust belongs to Adrian's children. The attorney will verify the documents and explain your rights.”
I nodded.
“What about my father?”
“He has separate assets.”
I looked toward the hospital corridor.
All I could think about was Adrian sitting beside the window.
Waiting thirty years to meet his children.
Money couldn't give him those years back.
It couldn't bring my mother home.
It couldn't erase Isabella's suffering.
But it could help us build something better.
Over the following months, the investigation continued.
Daniel Cross and Margaret Sinclair faced serious criminal charges.
Hawthorne's former patients received independent medical care and legal assistance.
Dominic began cooperating with authorities to separate his legitimate businesses from the criminal operations connected to the Vale organization.
He also stepped away from the world that had kept him trapped inside his father's reputation.
The process wasn't simple.
There were financial consequences.
Difficult decisions.
And people who didn't want him to change.
But he kept going.
Meanwhile, my family began rebuilding.
Elise moved closer to New York.
Marcus and I discovered we had the same terrible taste in old comedy movies.
Adrian slowly adjusted to life outside Hawthorne.
And Isabella began playing piano again.
One afternoon, I found Dominic sitting alone in the music room.
He was staring at the old photographs.
“Everything okay?” I asked.
He nodded.
“Just thinking.”
“Dangerous activity.”
He smiled faintly.
I sat beside him.
For a moment, neither spoke.
Then he looked at me.
“You changed this house.”
I laughed.
“With a feather duster?”
“With music.”
My smile softened.
He continued.
“For six years, I thought silence was the only way to survive losing Isabella.”
I looked toward the piano.
“And now?”
He smiled.
“Now I think this house was waiting for someone to remind us how to live.”
Tears filled my eyes.
Then he handed me a small envelope.
“What is this?”
“A proposal.”
I raised an eyebrow.
“Dominic, we're cousins.”
He stared at me.
Then burst out laughing.
A real laugh.
Deep.
Unexpected.
The sound startled Marcus, who appeared in the doorway.
“Boss?”
Dominic shook his head.
“Not that kind of proposal.”
I laughed too.
He handed me the envelope.
Inside was an offer to establish a music education foundation in my mother's name.
The Evelyn Bennett School of Music.
My throat tightened.
“Dominic…”
He smiled.
“You taught me that music shouldn't be locked behind doors.”
I began crying.
Then I noticed the final page.
The foundation's first scholarship recipient had already been selected.
A little girl from Yonkers.
Ten years old.
A gifted singer whose family couldn't afford lessons.
Her name was Lily Morgan.
I looked up.
“Who is she?”
Dominic's expression changed.
May you like
Then he said something that made my heart stop.
“Rachel, she's the daughter of the woman who helped your mother hide you.”
