Chapter 5 - The Ledger That Could Destroy Them All
The exchange took place inside an old train terminal.
Luca Bellandi was waiting.
He looked nothing like Nico.
Blond hair.
Blue eyes.
A smile that never reached them.
My father was tied to a chair.
Luca looked at me.
“You look just like him.”
“My father?”
“Your mother.”
I stared.
“What do you want?”
“The key.”
I held it up.
“You let him go.”
“No.”
“You said—”
“I lied.”
Nico raised his gun.
Luca smiled.
“Shoot.”
Nico didn't.
Luca laughed.
“You always were too sentimental.”
Nico's jaw tightened.
“What happened to you?”
“You happened.”
“What?”
“You took everything.”
“I took nothing.”
“You took my father's approval.”
“I was protecting this family.”
“You were protecting your crown.”
“I never wanted your crown.”
Luca looked at me.
“That is why I hate you.”
He told me the truth.
Rocco had intended Luca to inherit the organization.
Nico had refused.
Instead, Nico had moved toward legitimate business.
Luca believed Nico had betrayed the family.
But the real betrayal came from Rocco.
He had arranged Daniel's disappearance.
He had manipulated both sons.
He wanted them to fight.
Then he would reclaim everything.
I looked at Nico.
“You knew?”
“No.”
Luca smiled.
“Neither of you knew.”
He tossed a document onto the floor.
Rocco had created a trust.
The winner of the family war would inherit it.
But the trust was tied to the ledger.
The person holding the key could activate it.
That person was me.
I realized why everyone wanted me.
I wasn't just a witness.
I was the legal access point.
Luca stepped forward.
“Give me the key.”
“No.”
He raised his gun.
My father screamed:
“Don't!”
Then the lights went out.
Gunfire.
Chaos.
Nico grabbed me.
We ran.
Luca chased us.
My father escaped with us.
We reached the street.
Police surrounded the block.
Nico looked at me.
“How?”
I held up my phone.
“I sent the ledger to the FBI.”
He stared.
“You did what?”
“Before we came.”
Luca was arrested.
Rocco disappeared.
The Bellandi network collapsed.
But one file remained unopened.
A file labeled:
LENА MARINO.
Nico opened it.
Inside was my birth certificate.
My father's.
My mother's.
And a document proving I was the only beneficiary of the trust.
I stared.
“No.”
Nico looked at me.
“You own the Bellandi fortune.”
“I don't want it.”
“You don't have to.”
“Then why am I afraid?”
“Because power changes people.”
“Does it?”
He looked at me.
“It changed me.”
That night, I burned the trust papers.
Nico watched.
“You sure?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because my family doesn't need the money.”
“What does it need?”
“Peace.”
May you like
He smiled.
“Then let's build it.”
