Chapter 4 - The Dead Man’s Plan
Marello's plan was impossible.
Which was exactly why it might work.
He needed everyone to believe the wedding would proceed normally.
At the same time, he moved key financial assets into hidden legal trusts.
He transferred ownership of certain companies to neutral trustees.
He changed every security protocol.
And he created one fake account containing enough money to tempt the conspirators.
Bianca believed she would inherit it after his death.
Dario believed the account was real.
Antonio believed the account was real.
But only Marello, Marcus, Elena, and two trusted attorneys knew the truth.
I stayed hidden.
Leo stayed away from public places.
Every appearance had to be carefully managed.
Meanwhile, Bianca became more affectionate than ever.
She kissed Marello at restaurants.
She smiled for photographers.
She spoke about their future.
The city admired them.
No one knew she was planning his murder.
One night, Marello returned home and found Bianca waiting.
She wrapped her arms around him.
"Three days."
"Three days."
"Are you happy?"
He smiled.
"Very."
She kissed him.
I watched through a security monitor from the hidden room.
Marello never loved Bianca.
I knew that.
But seeing another woman touch him still hurt.
He had once kissed me the same way.
Then Bianca whispered something.
"You always wanted a family."
He looked at her.
"Yes."
She smiled.
"We'll have one."
That sentence changed his expression.
Because he knew exactly what she meant.
The next day, Bianca received a delivery.
A jewelry box.
Inside was a wedding necklace.
Hidden beneath the velvet was another vial.
Marcus confiscated it.
The toxin was designed to cause cardiac failure within minutes.
Marello stared at the report.
"They really planned the timing."
"What timing?" I asked.
"After the ceremony."
"Why wait?"
"Because the marriage has to be legally valid."
Then we discovered the second part.
After Marello's death, Bianca would activate a clause making her the temporary controller of the Vitali empire.
But there was a hidden condition.
If Marello had a biological child, certain assets would remain locked until the child turned twenty-one.
That meant Leo was a problem.
A dangerous one.
We needed to protect him.
And someone needed to learn the truth about his existence.
Marello decided to tell his closest captains.
The meeting was tense.
Some had served him for decades.
Others looked shocked.
One man stood.
"Boss, with respect, if the boy is your son, the enemy will come for him."
"I know."
"Then why reveal him?"
Marello looked around the table.
"Because I have spent seven years protecting an empire."
He paused.
"Now I have someone more important to protect."
No one argued.
One by one, his men lowered their heads.
It was the first time I understood that loyalty to Marello was not built only on fear.
Some men genuinely loved him.
The wedding rehearsal came.
Bianca stood beside Marello in the empty church.
She looked beautiful.
Marello looked at her like a man waiting for a verdict.
When the priest spoke about forever, Bianca smiled.
Marello said the words without hesitation.
I watched from the back row.
My heart ached.
Then Leo appeared beside me.
He whispered:
"That's the lady who looks at Daddy funny."
I almost laughed.
"Why funny?"
"Like she wants to break something."
Children notice what adults ignore.
Leo was right.
Bianca did look at Marello differently whenever she believed no one was watching.
There was no tenderness.
Only calculation.
After rehearsal, she approached me.
We were alone.
"You're very close to Marello."
I said nothing.
"Be careful."
"What do you mean?"
"Men like him destroy the women around them."
I looked into her eyes.
"So do women like you."
Her smile vanished.
For the first time, I saw the person behind the perfect mask.
She leaned closer.
"Stay away from my future husband."
"He isn't your husband yet."
"He will be."
"Not if he learns the truth."
Her eyes sharpened.
"What truth?"
I smiled.
"That's what I'm waiting to find out."
She walked away.
My hands were shaking.
Marello joined me minutes later.
"She threatened you."
I nodded.
He looked toward her.
"I should end this now."
"No."
"I won't risk you."
"Neither will I."
He looked at me.
For a long moment neither of us spoke.
Then he said:
"When this is over, I want to ask you something."
"What?"
"To come home."
The words nearly destroyed my defenses.
"Where?"
He looked toward Leo.
"Here."
I cried.
Not because I was afraid.
Because for the first time in seven years, someone was asking me to stay.
That night, the final pieces moved.
Dario met Antonio.
Bianca met both of them.
Our security captured everything.
They discussed timing.
Poison.
Financial transfers.
Leo.
And one terrifying detail.
They had a second assassin.
A man already inside the church security team.
Marello listened to the recording without emotion.
"Identify him."
Marcus did.
The man had served the Vitali family for ten years.
Marello stared at the photograph.
"Bring him in."
When the traitor arrived, he confessed.
He had been paid for months.
He would create a security breach during the ceremony.
The assassin would enter.
Marello would die.
Then Bianca would activate the transfer.
But there was another name on the payment records.
Someone we hadn't expected.
Marello's mother.
Claudia Vitali.
I stared at the page.
Marello did too.
His mother had been dead for four years.
Or so everyone believed.
She had supposedly died of a stroke overseas.
But the account had been active last month.
Someone using her identity had been paying the conspirators.
Then we found the photograph.
Claudia was alive.
And she was meeting Antonio in a private villa.
Marello's face became empty.
"My mother."
I touched his arm.
He looked at me.
"She died four years ago."
"No."
Marcus shook his head.
"Someone wanted you to think she did."
The wedding had suddenly become something much larger.
Bianca was not the only traitor.
She was merely the bride standing at the center of a conspiracy involving people Marello had buried in his own memories.
The final question was no longer who wanted him dead.
May you like
It was who had built the plan.
And why had they waited seven years?
