Chapter 2 - The Secret Serena Discovered Before She Ever Invited Livia
The ballroom erupted.
Questions flew from every corner.
“What does Vincenzo have to do with Livia?”
“Was this affair planned?”
“Serena, what exactly are you accusing them of?”
Dominic raised one hand.
The room went silent.
He did not shout.
He didn't need to.
“Everyone leaves.”
No one moved.
Dominic's security chief, Marco Bellini, stepped forward.
“Gentlemen, ladies, please.”
Chairs scraped backward.
Guests began filing through the doors.
Arthur Bell remained seated.
So did Dominic's older cousin, Matteo.
Serena noticed both men watching Dominic closely.
Livia had not moved.
Neither had Serena.
Dominic approached his wife.
“You need to come upstairs.”
“No.”
“Serena.”
“Not until you read the rest.”
She pointed to the screen.
A second page from Vincenzo's note appeared.
Dominic's face hardened.
He recognized his father's handwriting.
You have one job: marry Serena Dayne. Love her if you can. Protect the family if you cannot. Never let her discover why she was chosen.
Dominic went still.
“What does that mean?”
Serena looked at him.
“It means your father selected me.”
“You're saying he arranged our marriage?”
“I’m saying he manipulated the circumstances that led to it.”
Dominic shook his head.
“I met you at the restaurant.”
“Yes.”
“I proposed.”
“Yes.”
“I loved you.”
Her expression softened painfully.
“I know.”
“Then what are you saying?”
“That the beginning of our story wasn't as spontaneous as you believed.”
Livia stepped forward.
“I knew.”
Dominic looked at her.
“You knew what?”
“That Serena was connected to your father's plan.”
“Why didn't you tell me?”
“Because I didn't understand it.”
She swallowed.
“Not until this year.”
Dominic's eyes narrowed.
“What happened this year?”
Livia looked toward Serena.
“She found the ledger.”
Serena nodded.
Three weeks earlier, Serena had been cleaning out the small private office adjacent to Dominic's old study.
She had done so because Dominic had told her the room was being renovated for the nursery.
Inside an old desk, she found the key.
She also found a loose floorboard.
Underneath it was a ledger.
Black leather.
No title.
No date.
But inside were names, dates, payments, and coded initials.
Most of the names belonged to people who had worked for the Carbone organization before Dominic took control.
Several had died.
Some had disappeared.
And beside Serena's name were three words.
SUBJECT: DAYNE / ACCEPTED.
Serena had almost dropped the book.
She spent the next week secretly photographing every page.
She hired a retired forensic accountant named Harold Vale, who had once worked with Dominic's father.
Harold read the ledger without speaking for nearly an hour.
Then he looked at Serena.
“Do you know what this means?”
“No.”
“It means your husband wasn't the first person selected to lead the family.”
“Who was?”
Harold turned the book toward her.
A name appeared.
Nico Carbone.
Dominic's older brother.
Serena stared.
Dominic had never spoken much about Nico.
She knew only that he had died in a car accident when Dominic was twenty-two.
But Harold showed her another page.
Nico's death wasn't listed as an accident.
It was listed as an operation.
Beside it was a payment to an insurance investigator.
Serena's hands shook.
“Why?”
“Because Nico was going to expose your father-in-law.”
“For what?”
Harold looked at the next page.
“For human trafficking through shell charities, illegal construction contracts, and political bribery.”
Serena felt sick.
Then she saw another entry.
LIVIA DAYNE.
She looked up.
“Who is she?”
Harold took a breath.
“Nico had a daughter.”
Serena's heart stopped.
“That can't be.”
“Livia wasn't raised as a Carbone because Vincenzo hid her.”
Everything suddenly shifted.
The affair.
The secret meetings.
The old photographs.
Livia's strange connection to Dominic.
It was not the whole story.
But it was enough to explain why Vincenzo's name kept appearing.
Serena had confronted Livia privately two weeks later.
Livia arrived terrified.
Serena had placed the ledger on the table.
“Tell me who Nico Carbone was.”
Livia cried.
Not because she was exposed.
Because she finally had to say the name of the father she had been told never existed.
“Nicolas Carbone was my father.”
Serena had stared at her.
“You're Dominic's niece.”
Livia nodded.
“Then why did you sleep with him?”
“I didn't know.”
It was the answer Serena had feared.
Livia believed Dominic had betrayed her emotionally and sexually.
She had known nothing about her bloodline.
Serena had immediately realized there was another player.
Someone had deliberately kept them ignorant.
And someone wanted the Carbone family destroyed from the inside.
Back in the ballroom, Dominic stared at Livia.
“My niece?”
Livia's eyes filled with tears.
“I found out three months ago.”
Dominic backed away.
“No.”
“I tested the DNA.”
“Why didn't you tell me?”
“Because by the time I knew, you were already…” She looked at Serena's stomach. “I was afraid you would kill me.”
Dominic's voice dropped.
“Who told you about Serena?”
Livia looked at Matteo.
Everyone followed her gaze.
Matteo stood slowly.
“I did.”
Dominic's hand moved toward his jacket.
Security shifted.
Serena stepped between them.
“Not here.”
Matteo smiled.
“You finally understand, Dominic.”
“You've been working against me.”
“For twelve years.”
Dominic stared.
Matteo continued.
“Your father promised Nico control of the organization. Then Nico discovered the books. Vincenzo killed him. You inherited everything.”
“Why?”
“Because you were obedient.”
Dominic looked at Serena.
The words struck like a knife.
Matteo's smile widened.
“And your wife?”
He pointed at her.
“She was the perfect leverage.”
Serena's face went cold.
“What did you do?”
Matteo answered.
“We needed someone close enough to Dominic to eventually become his weakness.”
Dominic looked at Serena.
She shook her head.
“No.”
“I didn't choose you because of my father.”
“I know.”
“I chose you because I loved you.”
“I know.”
Matteo laughed.
“That is the tragedy. We expected her to be a weapon.”
He looked at Serena.
“She became the only person in the family you couldn't destroy.”
A gunshot shattered the ballroom chandelier.
Glass exploded.
Marco tackled Serena to the floor.
Dominic covered her body with his own.
A second shot tore through the stage.
Guests screamed.
When the smoke cleared, Matteo was gone.
Dominic looked at Serena.
Blood stained her dress.
His heart nearly stopped.
Then he realized it wasn't hers.
Marco was holding his arm.
“Just a graze.”
Dominic helped Serena stand.
Her hand went immediately to her stomach.
The baby kicked.
Once.
Twice.
She burst into tears.
Dominic held her.
For the first time all night, he stopped pretending he was in control.
“I'm sorry.”
Serena closed her eyes against his chest.
“Sorry won't fix this.”
“I know.”
“You hurt me.”
“I know.”
“You lied to me.”
“I know.”
“You slept with her.”
His grip tightened.
“I know.”
She pushed him away.
“Then prove you know what you've destroyed.”
Dominic stared at her.
“How?”
“Stop protecting the family name.”
May you like
She touched the silver key.
“And start protecting the family that's still alive.”
Related Stories
