Chapter 4 - The Fortune She Never Knew She Owned
Mara had spent years worrying about grocery bills.
Now lawyers were telling her she controlled assets worth nearly four hundred million dollars.
It felt obscene.
“I'm not taking it.”
The attorney looked at her.
“You don't have to.”
“I don't want it.”
“Then decide what happens to it.”
Roman watched from his wheelchair.
He was improving rapidly.
His doctors were stunned.
Mara wasn't.
She had been telling him for months that his body wasn't as unresponsive as they believed.
Now he was proving her right.
He could move his right arm.
Stand with assistance.
Speak in short sentences.
And most importantly, think.
The first thing he did with his regained power was dismantle the criminal structure that had betrayed him.
Carmine went to prison.
The hospital investigation began.
The false doctor was found dead.
Someone had silenced him.
The name behind the payments was still unknown.
Then Roman discovered another connection.
Mara's father had left instructions in the notebook.
PROTECT THE GIRL.
Roman stared at the words.
“Why would he know I'd find her?”
Mara answered:
“Maybe he expected you.”
“Did he know my family?”
“Yes.”
“How?”
“He worked for your father.”
Roman closed his eyes.
“My father killed people who knew too much.”
“Maybe my father knew.”
“He did.”
The truth was buried in records spanning twenty years.
Roman's father had created an offshore network.
Thomas Bennett had discovered it.
He tried to dismantle it.
Then Roman's father threatened him.
Thomas hid the money.
He also hid evidence.
Then he vanished.
Mara finally learned the truth.
Her father hadn't abandoned her.
He had sacrificed himself.
She cried.
Roman reached for her.
She took his hand.
“I hated him for years.”
“You didn't know.”
“No.”
“Neither did I.”
The two of them sat in silence.
Two people raised by men whose secrets had shaped their lives.
One had inherited a fortune.
The other had inherited nothing.
Until now.
Roman asked:
“What will you do?”
Mara looked at the documents.
“Help people.”
He smiled.
“Of course.”
She looked at him.
“What?”
“You're exactly who I thought you were.”
“You thought about me while unconscious?”
He smiled.
“I heard you.”
She froze.
“Everything?”
“Not everything.”
“What did you hear?”
“Your brother.”
“My brother?”
“You talked about him.”
She looked at him.
“What else?”
“You talked about your father.”
“What did I say?”
“That you were afraid.”
She looked away.
Roman squeezed her hand.
“You shouldn't be.”
She laughed.
“Easy for you to say.”
“No.”
He shook his head.
“Not anymore.”
He wanted her near.
Not as a nurse.
Not as an employee.
As someone who understood him.
But the family noticed.
Roman's sister, Elena, confronted him.
“She isn't safe.”
“I know.”
“She doesn't belong here.”
“She belongs where she chooses.”
“You're putting her in danger.”
“She was already in danger.”
Elena's expression softened.
“Do you love her?”
Roman looked at Mara.
“Yes.”
Elena closed her eyes.
“Then protect her.”
But there was one person who didn't approve.
Roman's uncle.
Victor Calder.
He had been absent during Roman's coma.
Now he returned.
He greeted Mara politely.
Too politely.
Then he said:
“Thomas Bennett was a traitor.”
Mara stared.
“You knew my father?”
“Yes.”
“What happened?”
Victor smiled.
“He made a mistake.”
“What mistake?”
“Trusting the wrong people.”
Roman looked at him.
“Get out.”
Victor's smile disappeared.
“I'm your uncle.”
“Then you should know when you're no longer welcome.”
Victor left.
Mara looked at Roman.
“What's wrong?”
“I don't trust him.”
“Why?”
“He wears the same silver watch.”
She froze.
Roman's face hardened.
The symbol on Victor's watch matched the mark found on Carmine's hidden accounts.
A black crown.
The same symbol from Thomas Bennett's ledger.
Victor wasn't just family.
He was connected to the people trying to kill Roman.
May you like
And now they had a second target.
Mara.
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