Chapter 7 - My Father Had Left Me an Eight-Hundred-Million-Dollar Trust—But There Was One Condition
The train station was empty.
Snow drifted through broken windows.
Mia carried the hard drive.
Lorenzo walked beside her.
Victor waited fifty yards away.
Elias appeared on the platform.
He was calm.
Impossibly calm.
“You look like your mother.”
Mia hated him instantly.
“You killed her.”
“No.”
“You worked with the men who did.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“She knew too much.”
Lorenzo stepped forward.
“You're finished.”
Elias laughed.
“Not yet.”
He held up a photograph.
Mia's mother.
Alive.
Pregnant.
Beside Daniel Crane.
“She loved your father.”
Mia closed her eyes.
“I know.”
“No.”
Elias smiled.
“She loved him enough to betray me.”
“Because you were hurting patients.”
“Because I was building an empire.”
“On dead children.”
He shrugged.
“Every empire has a cost.”
Lorenzo's gun appeared.
Elias smiled.
“Go ahead.”
Mia touched his arm.
“No.”
Elias looked at her.
“Wise.”
“What do you want?”
“The trust.”
“You could have taken it.”
“Only you can authorize the transfer.”
Mia understood.
Her father had designed the trust so no criminal organization could seize it.
The beneficiary had to make the transfer voluntarily.
She had one advantage.
Time.
“I'll sign.”
Lorenzo stared at her.
“Mia.”
She squeezed his hand.
“Trust me.”
He did.
She signed.
Elias smiled.
Then alarms sounded.
Federal agents flooded the station.
Elias froze.
Mia had delayed the transfer.
The signature was real.
But the final authorization required biometric verification.
Elias needed her alive.
He grabbed her.
Lorenzo raised his weapon.
Elias pressed a gun to Mia's neck.
“Drop it.”
Lorenzo did.
Elias dragged her into the tunnel.
Mia fought.
He struck her.
She stumbled.
Then Lorenzo appeared behind them.
“You're done.”
Elias laughed.
“You think she'll choose you?”
He looked at Mia.
“Tell him.”
Mia said nothing.
Elias continued.
“Your father left you a fortune.”
“I know.”
“He left you another secret.”
“What?”
“You are not the only heir.”
Lorenzo froze.
“What?”
Elias smiled.
“There is a second beneficiary.”
Mia's heart pounded.
“Who?”
Elias looked at Lorenzo.
“Your wife.”
Mia stared.
“I've never been married.”
“No.”
He smiled.
“Your father named Lorenzo Moretti.”
Everything stopped.
Lorenzo looked stunned.
“My father?”
Elias nodded.
“Daniel trusted you.”
Mia looked at Lorenzo.
Her father had chosen him.
Not because he wanted his money.
Because he believed Lorenzo could finish what he started.
Elias fired.
Lorenzo pulled Mia down.
Federal agents stormed the tunnel.
Elias was arrested.
The trust was frozen.
The evidence went public.
The hospital network collapsed.
Weeks later, Lorenzo sat beside Mia in a quiet café.
No guards.
No weapons.
No black SUVs.
Just coffee.
“You're quiet.”
“So are you.”
“I have a lot to think about.”
“About the trust?”
“About you.”
He looked at her.
“What about me?”
“My father chose you.”
“I know.”
“Why?”
Lorenzo smiled.
“Because he knew I would protect you.”
Mia looked at him.
“Would you?”
He answered without hesitation.
“Yes.”
“But not because of the trust.”
“No.”
She reached across the table.
“What about because of me?”
May you like
His eyes softened.
“Especially because of you.”
