Chapter 7 - Vanessa Finally Revealed Who Ordered Her To Destroy Me
The peace didn't last.
Vanessa disappeared.
For forty-eight hours, nobody knew where she was.
Then Dante received a video.
Vanessa was sitting in a dark room.
Her hands were tied.
A man stood behind her.
He gave Dante one demand.
Bring the evidence.
Or she dies.
Dante wanted to go alone.
I refused.
"You can't."
He looked at me.
"It's my daughter."
"She's also my sister."
The word slipped out.
Sister.
Vanessa was my sister.
Dante heard it.
Something softened in his face.
We located the warehouse.
Police surrounded it.
Dante entered.
I stayed outside with Elena.
Then gunfire.
People ran.
Police stormed the building.
Vanessa came out alive.
She collapsed into my arms.
"I'm sorry," she cried.
"For what?"
"He told me to destroy you."
"Who?"
She looked toward the building.
"Grandfather."
I froze.
Dante's father.
Still alive.
Still controlling everything.
Vanessa confessed that she had met him months earlier.
He had told her that Maya had returned to take control.
He had fed her lies.
Promised her money.
Promised her power.
And when she refused to finish the job, he kidnapped her.
Her testimony was enough to identify his location.
He was hiding in an old private estate outside Bellmont.
The final confrontation came two weeks later.
Dante walked into the house with police.
His father sat in a chair.
Older.
Calm.
Smiling.
"You always were sentimental."
Dante stared at him.
"You tried to kill my wife."
"I was protecting the family."
"You kidnapped my daughter."
"I was protecting the family."
"You destroyed everything."
"No."
The old man smiled.
"You did that yourself."
I stepped into the room.
He looked at me.
For the first time, he appeared surprised.
"Amara."
I stood beside Dante.
"You don't get to call me that."
He laughed.
"Blood recognizes blood."
I looked at him.
"Blood isn't family."
Silence.
"Family is who protects you."
He stared.
"You sound like your mother."
"Good."
Police arrested him.
The evidence was overwhelming.
His financial network collapsed.
His associates were prosecuted.
His influence disappeared.
For the first time in decades, the Vale family was free.
Dante walked outside.
He looked exhausted.
I stood beside him.
"It's over."
He nodded.
"Yes."
"What happens now?"
He looked at the city.
"I don't know."
I smiled.
"Maybe that's a good thing."
He looked at me.
May you like
For the first time, he wasn't the most feared man in Bellmont.
He was simply my father.
