Chapter 3 - THE INHERITANCE THEY NEVER TOLD ME ABOUT
I was sixteen when my father died.
Everyone said his heart failed.
Carlo took over the company.
My mother was already gone, and I was too young to understand corporate documents.
I trusted my uncle.
Apparently, that trust had been worth hundreds of millions of euros.
My attorney, Lucia Ferri, reviewed the old records independently.
Two days later, she called me.
“Serena, the trust is real.”
I sat down.
“How much?”
“Potentially forty-nine percent of Bellini Maritime.”
My mouth went dry.
“And Carlo?”
“He has been exercising voting authority over those shares.”
“Legally?”
“That is one of the questions.”
I closed my eyes.
For thirteen years, I'd believed Alessandro was the dangerous man in my life.
Now my own uncle might have stolen my inheritance.
Lucia continued.
“There’s another issue.”
“What?”
“The trust includes a marriage clause.”
My stomach tightened.
“What kind?”
“If you married into another controlling family, your shares would become immediately reviewable by an independent trustee.”
I stared.
“So marrying Alessandro could have exposed the trust.”
“Yes.”
Suddenly, Carlo's involvement with Bianca made horrifying sense.
If the wedding failed, nobody reviewed the hidden shares.
Nobody asked why Carlo had been controlling them.
Nobody discovered where the profits went.
I called him.
He answered warmly.
“Serena. Finally.”
“Did you pay Bianca Moretti?”
Silence.
Then his voice changed.
“Who told you that?”
“That isn't an answer.”
“Alessandro is poisoning you against your family.”
I laughed bitterly.
“He didn’t sign the transfers.”
Carlo exhaled.
“Serena, you don’t understand the history.”
“Then explain it.”
“Your father made reckless agreements with the Vitales.”
“My father gave me shares.”
Another silence.
“You found the trust.”
“Yes.”
His tone became colder.
“You should leave those matters alone.”
My skin prickled.
“Why?”
“Because some inheritances come with enemies.”
“You mean you?”
He hung up.
For several seconds, I stared at the phone.
Then Lucia called again.
She'd found another document.
A letter from my father.
Written three days before he died.
Serena,
If Carlo ever tells you the Vitale family caused my death, do not believe him until you see the original medical records.
I stopped breathing.
Nobody had ever told me my father suspected he might die.
The next line was worse.
I discovered Carlo has been moving company money through Moretti accounts.
If Alessandro's father learns the truth, this family will tear itself apart.
My hands began shaking.
Then Lucia read the final sentence.
The person I trust with Serena if anything happens to me is Alessandro Vitale.
I stared at the wall.
May you like
Thirteen years ago, before Alessandro and I became lovers, my father had already trusted him with my safety.
And Uncle Carlo had spent every year since convincing me the Vitales were the danger.
