Chapter 2 - The Secret Her Family Buried for Twenty Years
Gianna thought grief would feel like tears.
Instead, it felt like paperwork.
By the time she reached the Rosetti estate, her wedding dress was covered in dust from the country road and the flowers in her hair had started to wilt.
She stepped through the front doors and found Bianca waiting with two attorneys.
Neither woman spoke.
Gianna stared at them.
“Why are there lawyers in my foyer?”
Bianca folded her arms.
“Because your grandfather called three weeks before your wedding.”
Gianna stopped.
“You knew?”
“I knew he was alive.”
“And you didn't tell me?”
“I was told I would lose my life if I interfered.”
Gianna laughed once.
“Apparently everyone in my family gives excellent warnings and terrible timing.”
One of the attorneys stood.
“My name is Daniel Mercer. Your grandfather appointed me trustee of the Rosetti Family Foundation.”
“The foundation my father said was bankrupt?”
Daniel exchanged a glance with Bianca.
“That was part of the lie.”
Gianna slowly removed her veil.
“How much?”
Daniel answered carefully.
“Enough that if the transfer is valid, you become the controlling shareholder of Rosetti Maritime, Rosetti Development, Rosetti Hospitality, and several private investment entities.”
Gianna stared.
“How much?”
“Approximately 2.8 billion dollars.”
Silence.
She looked down at her wedding gown.
“I just got abandoned at a chapel.”
Bianca nodded.
“And apparently became a billionaire before dinner.”
Gianna almost smiled.
Then the pain returned.
“Why me?”
Daniel slid a folder across the table.
“Because your grandfather believed you were the only person in the family he could trust.”
She opened it.
At the top was a document dated twenty years earlier.
The Rosetti succession agreement.
Her name appeared in a clause.
GIanna Rosetti.
Sole Beneficiary.
The document required one condition.
She had to be married.
Gianna stared.
“That's why Rafael?”
Daniel nodded.
“Your grandfather knew the Holloways controlled the other half of the regional freight network.”
She looked up.
“What does that have to do with my marriage?”
“Everything.”
Daniel explained.
Twenty years earlier, the Rosetti and Holloway families had made a private agreement.
A merger.
A union of assets.
But the agreement had been interrupted by a betrayal.
Gianna’s father had accused Rafael's father of stealing from the family.
Rafael's father had denied it.
Then both men had died within eight months of each other.
The feud continued.
Until Gianna and Rafael met.
Gianna had believed it was fate.
Daniel told her it had been carefully arranged.
Her grandfather had introduced the two families under false circumstances.
“Are you saying my relationship was planned?”
“Not exactly.”
“What does that mean?”
“He wanted you to choose Rafael freely.”
Gianna laughed bitterly.
“Freely?”
“The marriage would unite the companies.”
“But I had seventeen weddings.”
“Yes.”
“Sixteen canceled.”
“Yes.”
“Because Natalie kept appearing.”
Daniel hesitated.
“That's not what your grandfather expected.”
“Who is Natalie Sullivan?”
Bianca answered this time.
“A survivor.”
Gianna frowned.
“Of what?”
“Of the Holloway-Rosetti conflict.”
“She told Rafael her father died saving him.”
“He did.”
“But?”
“But she wasn't the innocent woman Rafael believes her to be.”
Daniel opened another folder.
Inside were photographs.
Natalie at charity galas.
Natalie with Victor Holloway.
Natalie beside a man Gianna recognized from the news.
Arthur Voss.
Rafael's most dangerous competitor.
“She has been moving money through offshore accounts.”
Gianna’s face hardened.
“She works for Voss?”
“We haven't proved it.”
Daniel pointed to another document.
“But we know she has access.”
Gianna looked at the dates.
Every manipulation.
Every medical emergency.
Every wedding interruption.
All of them followed the same pattern.
Natalie would create a crisis shortly before each ceremony.
Someone inside Rafael’s security team would alert him.
Rafael would leave.
The pattern was too clean.
Gianna whispered, “He never saw it.”
“Because someone made sure he didn't.”
“Who?”
Daniel looked at her.
“We don't know yet.”
Gianna closed the folder.
“I do.”
Bianca frowned.
“You do?”
“Matthew.”
Rafael's right-hand man.
He was always the one who brought the phone.
Always the one who insisted the situation was urgent.
Always the one standing close enough to whisper in Rafael's ear.
Bianca's eyes widened.
“Matthew works for Rafael.”
“That's why he'd be useful.”
Gianna stood.
“What are you going to do?”
“Nothing.”
Bianca stared.
“Nothing?”
“Not yet.”
She placed one hand over her belly.
“My son is due in four months.”
Daniel nodded.
“He is also a legal heir to the Rosetti trust.”
Gianna looked toward the windows.
“How much does Rafael know?”
“Nothing.”
“And Monday?”
Daniel smiled faintly.
“On Monday, every bank and boardroom connected to the Rosetti Group receives your documents.”
Gianna felt something shift inside her.
For years, Rafael had known how to make her wait.
Now she would make the world wait for him.
That night, her phone rang again.
Rafael.
She stared at the name.
Bianca said nothing.
Gianna answered.
“What?”
His voice was rough.
“I’m sorry.”
She closed her eyes.
“You've said that before.”
“This is different.”
“No. It's seventeen years of excuses compressed into three years.”
“Gianna, I need you.”
She almost laughed.
“You needed me seventeen times.”
“Please.”
“Is Natalie okay?”
Silence.
Gianna waited.
“She’s at the hospital.”
“She’s always at a hospital.”
“She took something.”
“Did the doctor find anything?”
Another silence.
“No.”
Gianna smiled sadly.
“That means she's fine.”
“Gianna.”
“Goodbye, Rafael.”
She hung up.
Then her son kicked.
Gianna laughed.
This time, the sound was not forced.
The next morning, she entered Rosetti headquarters for the first time as its controlling owner.
Employees stared.
Executives whispered.
One man walked directly toward her.
“Ms. Rosetti, your father said you had no authority here.”
Gianna looked at Daniel.
Daniel handed her a document.
“Your father is no longer in control.”
The executive went pale.
Gianna walked into the boardroom.
At the end of the table sat twelve people.
Half were Holloway allies.
Half were Rosetti allies.
All of them looked terrified.
Gianna put the trust documents down.
“I know what happened to this company.”
Nobody spoke.
“I know about the missing accounts.”
Still silence.
“And I know someone has been feeding Rafael Holloway false information for three years.”
A director stood.
“You cannot accuse—”
“I’m not accusing anyone.”
She smiled.
“I’m giving you twenty-four hours to decide whether you want to work for me.”
The room went silent.
“And before you ask why I'm doing this…”
Gianna touched her stomach.
“I don't want revenge.”
Her eyes hardened.
“I want the truth.”
Across the city, Rafael received the news.
He stood in his office, reading the same document three times.
“She's the owner?”
Matthew nodded.
“Apparently.”
Rafael looked out over Chicago.
“Since when?”
“Effective today.”
Rafael whispered, “Gianna.”
Then he saw the final page.
The Rosetti trust had one more clause.
The combined assets of the Rosetti and Holloway families could only remain jointly controlled if Gianna and Rafael were legally married.
If the marriage did not occur within ninety days, control would revert to a third-party foundation.
Rafael's face went pale.
Matthew spoke quietly.
“Boss.”
Rafael looked at him.
“What?”
“She has everything.”
Rafael stared at the signature.
May you like
Gianna Rosetti.
For the first time in his life, Rafael Holloway understood what it meant to lose something before realizing he had been holding it.
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