Chapter 9 - The Grandmother Who Wanted Everything
Isabella Bellandi had always presented herself as the perfect grandmother.
Elegant.
Soft-spoken.
Devoted to family traditions.
After Celeste disappeared, Isabella moved into the mansion and promised to help raise the triplets.
She selected their clothing.
Approved their tutors.
And attended every meeting with the specialists.
Adrien had believed she was helping.
Now he wondered whether she'd been controlling what the children could reveal.
He stared at Celeste's diary.
"My mother?"
The investigator remained careful.
"The diary identifies her, but we need independent evidence of her involvement."
Adrien nodded.
He was learning that accusations weren't proof.
Still, he couldn't ignore the sick feeling in his stomach.
He remembered Isabella insisting the triplets should never visit the basement.
Her refusal to let certain nurses return.
The way she became irritated whenever Sophia pointed toward the floor.
Then another memory surfaced.
The night Celeste disappeared, Isabella had told him:
Some women aren't strong enough for this family.
Adrien had believed her.
That memory made him ashamed.
The investigators examined the financial records connected to Isabella's personal trust.
Several transfers linked her accounts to Victor's shell companies.
There were payments to Marco.
Payments to Samuel Reed.
And payments to a private medical facility.
But the most shocking discovery involved the original twelve-million-dollar theft.
The money hadn't been taken by Celeste.
It had been moved into an account controlled by Isabella.
Adrien stared at the report.
"My mother accused Celeste of stealing money she took herself."
Evelyn stood beside him.
Her expression softened.
"That's what the records suggest."
He closed his eyes.
For two years, he'd allowed his children to believe their mother left them for money.
He'd believed his own mother because he couldn't imagine her betraying him.
Now he wondered how many terrible things he'd ignored simply because the people responsible shared his surname.
That afternoon, investigators interviewed Isabella through her attorney.
She denied everything.
She claimed Victor managed her finances.
She insisted she didn't know where Celeste was.
Then she made one accusation that changed the direction of the investigation.
"Evelyn Hart isn't who she says she is."
Adrien frowned.
"What?"
Isabella leaned forward.
"That waitress didn't stumble into this family by accident."
The investigator asked her to explain.
Isabella smiled coldly.
"Rose Hart wasn't simply a nurse."
Silence.
"She worked for the Bellandi family before Celeste married Adrien."
Evelyn went pale when she heard the statement.
Her mother had never mentioned that.
Isabella continued.
"Rose knew things about our family that she had no right to know."
Adrien looked toward Evelyn.
But Evelyn was staring at the photograph of her mother beside Celeste.
Then Isabella whispered:
"Ask Evelyn what happened to her father."
The room went silent.
Evelyn's father, Daniel Hart, had disappeared when she was nine.
Her mother always said he left because he didn't want a family.
Now Isabella was claiming something different.
And when investigators searched Daniel Hart's name, they discovered he'd worked as an accountant for the Bellandi trust.
He hadn't abandoned Evelyn.
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He'd disappeared after reporting stolen money.
And Isabella Bellandi had been the last person known to meet him.
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