Chapter 3 - My Uncle Was Inside the Vault With Isabella, and He Revealed the Secret My Father Had Died Trying to ProtectWe reached the vault.
The doors were open.
Inside stood Isabella.
Beside her was my uncle, Carlo.
He held a pistol.
Isabella held a folder.
Marco stood behind them.
Three people.
One plan.
I stopped.
“Put the gun down.”
Carlo smiled.
“You always were dramatic.”
“You betrayed me.”
“No.”
He laughed.
“I corrected a mistake.”
“What mistake?”
“Your father gave you everything.”
“Yes.”
“He should have given it to me.”
“So you waited twenty years?”
“I waited patiently.”
I looked at Isabella.
“And you?”
She smiled.
“I wanted a husband.”
“You wanted my empire.”
“That too.”
My anger became cold.
Marco stepped forward.
“It's over, Alessandro.”
“Not yet.”
He held up a tablet.
“Six minutes are almost finished.”
“Four minutes.”
He smiled.
At the same moment, my phone buzzed.
TWO MINUTES.
I stared.
Carlo said:
“Your father left a succession clause.”
“What clause?”
“If you had no biological heir, control would pass to the family council.”
I frowned.
“I have no heir.”
Isabella smiled.
“Exactly.”
Then she placed a document on the table.
My father had signed it.
At first glance, everything looked legitimate.
But there was a problem.
My father had died seven years earlier.
And this document was dated three months ago.
Forged.
I laughed.
“You couldn't even forge his handwriting.”
Marco's smile faded.
“You think that's important?”
“Yes.”
I pointed to the signature.
“My father never used blue ink.”
Silence.
“Ever.”
Marco looked at Carlo.
Carlo swore.
I smiled.
“My father hated fountain pens.”
The document fell apart.
But the real problem remained.
They had another document.
A living trust.
That one was real.
My father had signed it.
It transferred everything if I died without a publicly recognized heir.
I looked at Isabella.
“You knew.”
“Yes.”
“How?”
“Marco told me.”
The timer hit one minute.
The system warned:
TRANSFER PENDING.
I looked at the biometric panel.
The system required three approvals.
My signature.
My uncle's.
And a trustee.
I was one.
Carlo was another.
The third?
My mother.
I looked at her.
She had followed us.
She was crying.
“I can't.”
“You don't have to.”
Carlo raised the weapon.
“Sign it.”
She didn't move.
I looked at Sophia.
Then Emma.
I understood.
They had included children because they knew my mother couldn't watch another child be harmed.
Sophia stepped forward.
“Don't.”
Carlo aimed at her.
I moved.
The gun fired.
The bullet hit the wall.
My security team entered.
Carlo's weapon was taken.
The timer stopped.
Thirty seconds.
I stepped toward the terminal.
“Transfer canceled.”
Marco stared.
“You can't.”
“I can.”
I used my private authorization.
The system rejected it.
HEIR STATUS REQUIRED.
I froze.
My father had designed the system so I couldn't cancel the transfer.
Unless—
I looked at Emma.
Then Sophia.
The chapel.
The recording.
The locket around Sophia's neck.
Something was missing.
My father had created a second clause.
A biological heir.
Not marriage.
Not bloodline.
Protection.
I asked Sophia:
“What did your husband leave you?”
She reached inside her coat.
A small envelope.
My father's seal.
I opened it.
One sentence.
The truth is already in your house.
I looked at Emma.
And suddenly, I wondered why my cousin's entire plan had been focused on making her disappear.
May you like
Not me.
Her.
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