Chapter 4 - The Woman Dante Had Been Protecting
Three weeks passed.
Dante stayed away except when necessary.
He sent food.
Doctors.
Security.
But never flowers.
Never gifts.
Never romantic messages.
He had finally understood that I didn’t need to be won back.
I needed to feel safe.
Then Miriam found something in the Bellmont files.
A hidden transfer.
Every time money moved into my account, an equal amount went into a charitable trust.
The final beneficiary was a hospital specializing in abused women and children.
I looked at Dante.
“Why would he do this?”
Miriam sighed.
“Because not everything about him is what you think.”
I asked her to arrange a meeting.
Dante arrived at the blue house alone.
No bodyguards.
No weapons visible.
He stood on the porch.
“I’m here.”
I opened the door.
“Explain Bellmont.”
He looked down.
“My father created it.”
“What?”
“Years ago.”
“He had my name on it?”
“No.”
“Then why mine?”
“Because after I inherited the organization, I changed the beneficiary.”
“To me?”
“To you and our child.”
“Why?”
“Because I wanted to build something no one could take from you.”
I stared.
“You could have told me.”
“I know.”
“Then why didn’t you?”
“Because there was a war coming.”
“What war?”
“My uncle.”
I had never heard Dante mention an uncle.
He stepped inside.
“My father died when I was twenty-one. My uncle, Carlo, wanted control of the empire.”
“Where is he now?”
“Dead.”
“Then why are you afraid of him?”
Dante looked at the floor.
“He left a son.”
My heart stopped.
“Who?”
“Adrian Vale.”
I remembered that name.
A man recently appearing in Chicago’s business circles.
Young.
Rich.
Untouchable.
Miriam suddenly entered.
“We have a problem.”
She showed Dante a photograph.
Adrian.
Standing beside Vivian.
I stared.
Dante’s face hardened.
“Vivian is his sister.”
I looked between them.
“That’s impossible.”
“No,” Dante said. “It explains everything.”
Vivian had not been trying to seduce Dante.
She had been trying to destroy my marriage.
Adrian needed Dante weakened.
He needed me frightened.
He needed our child isolated.
The affair was staged.
The messages were fake.
The bedroom scene had been designed to make me leave.
And I had walked directly into their plan.
Except they had made one mistake.
They had underestimated me.
Adrian didn’t know I had Miriam.
He didn’t know about the financial copies.
He didn’t know I had the Bellmont documents.
Most importantly, he didn’t know Dante and I had finally started comparing notes.
“We need evidence,” Miriam said.
Dante nodded.
“We’ll give them what they want.”
“What?”
“My trust.”
I frowned.
He looked at me.
“We pretend you’re angry enough to sign everything away.”
“You want them to think I’m leaving you.”
“I want them to think they won.”
I understood.
We announced our separation.
Chicago exploded.
The mafia world celebrated.
Adrian publicly sympathized with me.
Vivian disappeared.
Dante acted devastated.
And I moved to a second house.
Exactly as planned.
For six weeks, we performed.
We stopped appearing together.
Dante became colder.
I became publicly independent.
Adrian began approaching me.
At first it was subtle.
An invitation.
A business proposal.
Then dinner.
“You deserve better than Dante,” he told me.
I looked at him.
“You know nothing about my marriage.”
“I know enough.”
He smiled.
“I can protect you.”
That phrase almost made me laugh.
Everyone wanted to protect me.
No one asked what I wanted.
I accepted one dinner.
Then another.
And secretly recorded everything.
Adrian spoke freely.
He believed I was frightened.
He believed I hated Dante.
He believed I would hand over the custody documents.
He bragged about controlling the Bellmont funds.
He admitted manipulating Vivian.
But he never confessed to the larger crime.
Not until the fourth dinner.
“You know what your husband doesn’t understand?” Adrian said.
“What?”
“His father didn’t leave him the empire.”
I frowned.
“Then who?”
“You did.”
I stayed still.
“The controlling shares are tied to the child,” he continued. “As long as you remain married to Dante, they’re protected.”
“And if I leave?”
“They become vulnerable.”
“So you want my son.”
He smiled.
“I want what belongs to your family.”
I finally understood.
The entire affair had been designed to remove me from Dante.
They wanted divorce.
Then custody.
Then control.
I looked Adrian directly in the eye.
“You made one mistake.”
“What?”
“You assumed I was alone.”
He went pale.
The recording device was already transmitting.
May you like
Dante heard every word.
So did federal agents.
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