Chapter 3 - Lorenzo Discovered His Father Had Left a Second Will—One That Could Strip Isabella of Everything If She Harmed EmmaThe next morning, we moved again.
Lorenzo was stronger.
But barely.
We traveled to an old family property.
A vineyard outside the city.
The house belonged to Lorenzo's father.
It had been abandoned for years.
He believed there was something hidden there.
We searched the library.
Nothing.
The office.
Nothing.
Then Emma walked over to a portrait.
She touched the frame.
“Mama.”
“What?”
“There's a door.”
I looked.
She pointed beneath the portrait.
A narrow seam.
We pushed it.
A hidden panel opened.
Inside was a safe.
Lorenzo entered his father's birthday.
The safe opened.
Inside:
Two wills.
A USB drive.
A photograph.
And a letter.
The first will was the one everyone knew.
The second changed everything.
It named Emma as the sole beneficiary.
It named me as guardian.
And it included a clause:
If any member of the Duca family attempts to harm the child or her parents, that person forfeits all inheritance rights.
Isabella's entire plan had been built on a false assumption.
She wouldn't inherit if she hurt us.
But Lorenzo was still worried.
“My father knew she could become desperate.”
I looked at the letter.
“She already is.”
Then we opened the USB.
A recording.
Lorenzo's father speaking.
“Lorenzo, if you are hearing this, then you failed to stop Isabella.”
Lorenzo looked down.
His father continued:
“She has been moving money for years.”
“She has been using your name.”
“She has been buying loyalty.”
“And one day she will try to take control.”
A pause.
“Do not underestimate her.”
The recording ended.
Then a second file opened.
This one showed Isabella speaking to my late husband's attorney.
She had been paying him.
Thousands.
Maybe millions.
For information.
Then the attorney said something chilling.
“What if the child survives?”
Isabella smiled.
“She won't.”
I felt sick.
Lorenzo turned away.
For the first time since I had known him, I saw him cry.
“She was my sister.”
I stood beside him.
“She chose this.”
He nodded.
“I know.”
Then Emma walked over.
She held out her stuffed rabbit.
“Daddy sad.”
Lorenzo looked at her.
“I'm okay.”
“No.”
She touched his cheek.
“You're sad.”
He hugged her.
“I am.”
She whispered:
“It's okay.”
The innocence of the moment hurt more than anything.
Then my phone rang.
My mother's old number.
Dead for years.
I answered.
A woman's voice.
“Give me the child.”
I froze.
“Who are you?”
“You know.”
The line went dead.
Lorenzo looked at me.
“That's impossible.”
I nodded.
“It was my mother's voice.”
My mother had died years earlier.
Someone was using a recording.
But why?
Then I remembered.
The first thing Isabella had said after seeing Emma:
“She has your mother's eyes.”
She hadn't been surprised.
She had been afraid.
Because Emma wasn't just the heir.
May you like
She was connected to another bloodline.
And that bloodline might be the real reason Isabella wanted her.
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