Chapter 5 - The Wedding Nobody Asked For
The first thing I did after Luca said the word wedding was laugh.
Not because it was funny.
Because sometimes fear arrives dressed as absurdity.
“What wedding?”
Luca looked at Dante.
“Your wedding.”
Dante's expression could have frozen fire.
“To whom?”
Luca didn't answer.
A phone rang.
Dante's.
He checked the screen.
His face hardened.
“Richard.”
He answered.
“What do you want?”
A calm male voice came through.
“I want my family back.”
Dante's eyes narrowed.
“You're supposed to be dead.”
“So was Luca.”
Silence.
Richard continued.
“The city needs stability. The board needs a successor. Our partners need reassurance.”
Dante said nothing.
“You have two options,” Richard said. “Marry Harper publicly and restore the family's image, or watch every legitimate business you own collapse.”
I whispered, “He can't do that.”
Richard laughed.
“You still don't understand what your father built.”
The call ended.
Dante stared at the phone.
I looked at Luca.
“You knew this was coming?”
“Yes.”
“Then why didn't you warn us?”
“Because I needed Richard to reveal himself.”
Dante looked furious.
“You used her.”
Luca shook his head.
“I protected her.”
“You dragged her into this.”
“She was already in it.”
I stepped between them.
“Enough.”
Both brothers looked at me.
“I am not a package.”
Dante nodded.
“You're right.”
Luca lowered his head.
“I'm sorry.”
I turned to Dante.
“What happens now?”
He answered without hesitation.
“We make a choice.”
I frowned.
“What choice?”
“Whether we play Richard's game.”
“And?”
“We don't.”
That evening, Dante called every legitimate partner in his business network.
Lawyers.
Executives.
Accountants.
Investigators.
By midnight, he had built a legal team capable of taking apart the Moretti empire piece by piece.
He told them everything.
The hidden accounts.
The forged contracts.
The old corruption.
The North Star records.
The fire.
For the first time, Dante chose transparency over power.
I watched him sign document after document.
“You're giving up control.”
“I know.”
“You could lose millions.”
“I know.”
“You could lose the company.”
“I know.”
“Then why?”
He looked at me.
“Because I don't want a family built on fear.”
I smiled.
“Good answer.”
The next morning, Richard made his move.
A public announcement claimed Dante and I were engaged.
The media exploded.
My name appeared everywhere.
My photograph.
My job.
My connection to Dante.
Every detail of my life.
By noon, strangers were outside the mansion.
By evening, reporters were camping across the street.
Dante stood beside the window.
“This is what I wanted to protect you from.”
I looked at him.
“You can't protect me by deciding my life.”
He nodded.
“I know.”
“What do you want?”
He turned.
“The truth.”
I stepped closer.
“And what is it?”
He took a breath.
“I love you.”
I froze.
He continued.
“I didn't plan to.”
“I know.”
“I fought it.”
“I know.”
“It didn't help.”
I laughed through tears.
“You're terrible at this.”
“I know.”
He came closer.
“I don't want Richard's wedding.”
“Good.”
“I don't want a political alliance.”
“Good.”
“I don't want to own you.”
My heart tightened.
“What do you want?”
He touched my cheek.
“You.”
Silence.
“As long as you choose me too.”
I kissed him.
It was not dramatic.
No audience.
No music.
No promises of forever.
Just two frightened people finally admitting they had become important to each other.
Then someone knocked.
Nico entered.
“We have a problem.”
Dante sighed.
“Of course we do.”
Nico put a file on the table.
“Richard took over the St. Augustine property.”
I opened it.
Inside was an architectural plan.
A hidden chamber under the seventh floor.
I remembered my father's letter.
The girl knows nothing.
I looked at Dante.
“The final archive is still there.”
“Yes.”
“We need to find it.”
Dante nodded.
We returned to the hotel.
This time, the entrance was blocked.
Someone had already been there.
Inside the seventh floor, we found a hidden staircase.
It led to an underground chamber.
On the wall was a mural.
A compass.
A star.
And four names.
Sofia.
Luca.
My father.
Dante.
Underneath them was a fifth name.
Harper.
I touched it.
A panel opened.
Inside was a box.
My father's final archive.
But beside it was something else.
A photograph.
Richard standing beside Marcus Hale.
The man who had attacked me.
Alive.
Working for Richard.
I looked at Dante.
“He lied about everything.”
A voice answered from behind us.
“Not everything.”
We turned.
Richard stood at the entrance.
He was older than I had imagined.
Calm.
Elegant.
Smiling.
“You've finally found the truth.”
Dante raised his weapon.
Richard laughed.
“You won't shoot.”
“Try me.”
Richard looked at me.
“You know why your father trusted Sofia?”
I shook my head.
“Because she was your mother.”
The world stopped.
“What?”
Richard smiled.
“Not birth mother.”
He looked at Dante.
“Your father had an affair with her.”
Dante's face hardened.
Richard continued.
“And Harper isn't your father's daughter.”
I stared at him.
“What are you saying?”
May you like
Richard's smile disappeared.
“She is mine.”
