Chapter 7 - The Man Who Had Been Dead for Twenty Years
Victor Rosetti had spent two decades living under different names.
He had financed criminal networks.
He had manipulated both families.
He had created the feud between Rosetti and Holloway.
And he had engineered Gianna's marriage to Rafael.
Not because he wanted peace.
Because he wanted ownership.
He believed that once Gianna became pregnant, the trust could be manipulated through her child.
His ultimate plan was simple.
Control the child.
Control the companies.
Control the future.
Bianca was bait.
Gianna knew it.
Rafael knew it.
They still had to go.
The abandoned factory was outside the city.
They arrived at midnight.
Gianna carried no weapon.
Rafael carried one.
“Stay behind me.”
“No.”
“Gianna.”
“This started because men thought women were easier to control.”
He stared.
She smiled.
“I'm done helping them be right.”
They entered the factory.
Bianca was tied to a chair.
Victor waited.
He looked older than the photograph.
But his eyes were sharp.
“You have your grandmother's courage.”
Gianna stepped forward.
“You killed my grandfather.”
“No.”
“You stole his identity.”
“Yes.”
“You manipulated Rafael.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Victor smiled.
“Because both families were always built around weakness.”
“What weakness?”
“Love.”
Rafael raised his weapon.
Victor laughed.
“You see?”
“Put the gun down.”
“You would shoot me?”
Rafael's jaw tightened.
Victor looked at Gianna.
“Ask him.”
Gianna looked at Rafael.
“What?”
Victor smiled.
“Ask him why your seventeenth wedding was almost different.”
Gianna turned.
Rafael looked away.
“Rafael?”
He finally spoke.
“Because I knew.”
Her heart stopped.
“Knew what?”
“Natalie wasn't sick.”
“Then why did you go?”
He swallowed.
“Because Matthew told me there was another threat.”
“What threat?”
“You.”
Gianna stared.
“He told me someone was planning to kill you at the chapel.”
“Why didn't you tell me?”
“I thought I could protect you.”
“By leaving me?”
“I thought if I stayed, you'd become a target.”
Gianna looked at him.
“And after?”
“I realized I had been deceived.”
Victor laughed.
“That part was true.”
Rafael turned.
“What?”
Victor's smile became cruel.
“I told Matthew to warn you.”
Silence.
“You wanted Rafael away from the chapel.”
Victor nodded.
“Because your wedding was a legal trigger.”
“What trigger?”
“The marriage documents.”
Victor explained.
If Gianna and Rafael married, their combined ownership would lock the family assets permanently outside his reach.
The only way to gain control was to prevent the marriage.
Seventeen times.
Every interruption had been engineered.
Natalie had been a pawn.
Matthew had been a pawn.
Rafael had been manipulated.
Gianna had been humiliated.
Victor had been waiting.
Gianna looked at him.
“You destroyed seventeen weddings for money.”
“No.”
“For power.”
“Yes.”
She shook her head.
“You still don't understand.”
“What?”
“I don't need a wedding to defeat you.”
Victor's smile disappeared.
Gianna held up her phone.
She had been recording.
Every confession.
Every admission.
Victor lunged.
Rafael moved first.
The fight was brutal.
Victor struck Rafael with a metal bar.
Gianna screamed.
Bianca kicked the chair over.
One guard panicked.
Another dropped his weapon.
Police flooded the factory.
Victor was arrested.
His empire collapsed within days.
The kidnapping ended.
The trust remained intact.
And Rafael survived.
Barely.
He spent two weeks in the hospital.
Gianna visited every day.
She never promised forgiveness.
She simply sat beside him.
One afternoon, Rafael opened his eyes.
“Are you still here?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Gianna looked at him.
“Because I love you.”
His eyes filled.
“But?”
“But love doesn't erase what happened.”
“I know.”
“I need you to understand something.”
“Anything.”
“I don't want another wedding.”
He smiled weakly.
“Good.”
“I don't want a contract.”
“Good.”
“I don't want our families choosing for us.”
“Good.”
“I want something simple.”
“What?”
“A choice.”
He reached for her hand.
“I choose you.”
May you like
She squeezed his fingers.
“I choose you too.”
