Chapter 4 - The Woman in the Abandoned Chapel
Isabella sat inside an abandoned chapel with one hand resting beneath her stomach.
The baby moved.
She whispered,
“Your father is probably looking for us.”
Elias sat beside the door.
“He is.”
“You're sure?”
“Yes.”
“He'll find us.”
“Eventually.”
“And Victor?”
“Not before we move.”
Isabella looked toward the stained-glass window.
The chapel had belonged to the Romano family generations ago.
She had never been there as a child.
Her father had told her it was condemned.
Another lie.
She looked at the document in her lap.
“You knew about this.”
Elias nodded.
“How long?”
“Twenty years.”
She stared.
“You knew?”
“I was eighteen.”
“What did my father tell you?”
“That someday you might need to run.”
“From Dante?”
“From the family.”
“Why didn't you tell me?”
“Because your father made me promise.”
Isabella closed her eyes.
She had begun to suspect that every adult in her life had made promises over her head.
Her father.
Her mother.
Dante's father.
Lucia.
Raffaele.
And even Elias.
Everyone had been protecting someone.
Everyone had been hiding something.
And none of them had trusted her with her own life.
Elias approached.
“There's something else.”
“What?”
“The trust isn't just money.”
“I know.”
“No.”
He placed another document beside hers.
Isabella read it.
Her face changed.
“What is this?”
“Ownership.”
She scanned the pages.
The Moretti family had quietly acquired several shipping companies, construction firms and land holdings through shell corporations.
The trust controlled all of them.
But the final clause was devastating.
The heir could dissolve the entire network upon reaching twenty-one.
Dante's daughter could legally dismantle everything.
The Moretti empire would cease to exist.
Isabella stared.
“That is why they want her.”
“Yes.”
“And Dante?”
“They need him alive.”
“Why?”
“Because as long as he remains married to you, he is the legal bridge.”
She looked at the divorce papers.
“Not anymore.”
“That's why the document scares them.”
A sound came from outside.
Elias reached for his weapon.
Isabella stood carefully.
A car door slammed.
Then footsteps.
“Stay here.”
Elias moved toward the entrance.
The door opened.
Dante stood in the doorway.
Rain dripped from his coat.
His face was pale.
“Isabella.”
She did not move.
“How did you find me?”
“The rose.”
She looked at him.
“I wanted you to.”
“Why?”
“To see what you would do.”
He took a step forward.
“I've been looking for you all night.”
“I know.”
“You're not safe.”
“Neither are you.”
He stopped.
Elias remained between them.
Dante looked at him.
“You.”
“Yes.”
“You knew where she was.”
“Yes.”
“You kept her from me.”
“I kept her alive.”
Dante's jaw tightened.
“Isabella, come home.”
“No.”
“Please.”
She looked at him.
“Do you know what the worst part is?”
He said nothing.
“I expected the affair to hurt.”
She laughed softly.
“It didn't.”
“Then what did?”
“The fact that you lied when I asked you if you were hiding something.”
Dante lowered his gaze.
“I was.”
“You always were.”
“I was trying to protect you.”
“Stop.”
He looked up.
“Stop saying that.”
“Why?”
“Because every person who has ever hurt me has used that sentence.”
Dante swallowed.
“You're right.”
That surprised her.
He came closer.
“I don't deserve forgiveness.”
“No.”
“But I need you alive.”
“So do I.”
“And our daughter.”
“Especially her.”
He looked toward her stomach.
“Can I?”
Isabella understood.
He wanted to touch her.
She hesitated.
Then nodded.
Dante placed one hand gently over her belly.
The baby kicked.
His face broke.
He laughed once.
Then cried.
Isabella looked away.
“I love her.”
“I know.”
“I love you.”
Her eyes closed.
“Don't say that.”
“Why?”
“Because I believe you.”
That hurt more than rejection.
Dante whispered,
“I know.”
Then a gunshot exploded outside.
Elias pushed Isabella down.
Another shot shattered the chapel window.
Dante dropped beside them.
“Who is that?”
“Victor,” Elias said.
A car engine roared.
Dante looked at Elias.
“You knew.”
“I suspected.”
They escaped through the rear sacristy.
A narrow tunnel led beneath the chapel into the woods.
Rain flooded the ground.
They reached the cars.
Dante opened the passenger door.
“Get in.”
Isabella stared.
“Why should I trust you?”
He looked at her.
“You shouldn't.”
She froze.
Dante continued.
“Trust me when I earn it.”
She got in.
Elias followed.
They drove through the storm.
For forty minutes nobody spoke.
Then Isabella whispered,
“There is one thing you don't know.”
Dante glanced at her.
“What?”
She handed him a copy of the trust amendment.
He read the beneficiary clause.
His hands tightened.
“Your father signed this.”
“Yes.”
“And if our daughter is born…”
“She becomes the owner.”
“And the Moretti empire disappears.”
“Yes.”
Dante looked at her.
“That is why you're leaving.”
“Yes.”
“Not because of Natalia.”
“No.”
“Not even because of me.”
She looked down.
“Partly because of you.”
He nodded.
“I understand.”
She hesitated.
“But that's not the biggest secret.”
He looked at her.
“What is?”
Isabella pulled out one final paper.
It was a DNA report.
Dante read it.
His face went blank.
“What is this?”
“Before I filed for divorce, I had a prenatal test done.”
He stared at the results.
The baby was biologically his.
That wasn't the surprise.
At the bottom was a second result.
Maternal genetic history.
The report showed a rare hereditary marker.
Dante recognized it.
His father had it.
So did Dante.
Isabella's daughter had it too.
But there was another match.
A man.
Unknown.
She whispered,
“The child isn't only connected to the Moretti family.”
Dante looked at her.
“What are you saying?”
“The trust was created because your father and mine were protecting someone.”
“Who?”
Isabella met his eyes.
“Our daughter's biological lineage includes a third family.”
“Which one?”
May you like
She swallowed.
“The Duca family.”
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