Chapter 5 - The Secret in the Vault
With forty-eight hours left on the deadline, my father did what all desperate men do. He tried to play dirty.
It was midnight when my phone buzzed with an unknown number.
"Elena," my father’s frantic voice came through the receiver. "You have to listen to me. Your mother... she didn't get sick by accident."
My blood ran cold. "What are you talking about?"
"Vivien... she found out Eleanor was trying to write a book, an expose on how we built Bennett Development. She... she poisoned her slow-acting medication, Elena. If you don't get me the deeds from Alessio’s office tonight, Vivien will make sure the Swiss clinic receives a very specific phone call. The doctors there think they’re administering her recovery drugs, but I control the medical supply chain in that region. One word, and your mother’s heart stops."
I felt the room spin. The betrayal was so deep, so sickening, I couldn't breathe.
"You... you knew?" I choked out. "You knew Vivien poisoned her?"
"I did what I had to do to protect the family!" Richard hissed. "Now, get into Romano’s private vault. The code is his mother’s birthdate—0412. Get the land deeds for the Bellagio sector and bring them to me. Do this, and your mother lives."
The line went dead.
I stood in the dark corridor of the mansion, my heart hammering against my ribs like a trapped bird.
0412.
I walked down the hallway to Alessio’s study. The door was unlocked. The large, heavy vault sat in the corner behind a painting. My hands shook as I reached for the dial.
0... 4... 1... 2.
Click.
The heavy steel door swung open. Inside were stacks of cash, black ledgers, and a leather-bound folder labeled BENNETT LAND DEEDS.
I grabbed the folder.
But as I pulled it out, a document fell to the floor. I picked it up, intending to stuff it back in, but the title caught my eye.
LAST WILL AND TESTAMENT OF MARIA ROMANO.
My eyes scanned the elegant script. My breath caught in my throat.
The land that Bennett Development had built the Bellagio Grand on... didn't belong to Richard Bennett. It didn't even belong to Alessio Romano.
According to the original land grant signed thirty years ago, the land belonged to Eleanor Bennett—my mother. She was the sole heir of the original land developer before Richard married her, stole her identity, and forged her signature to build his empire.
Richard hadn't married into wealth. He had stolen my mother’s birthright and then tried to kill her to keep the secret.
And Alessio Romano knew. He had known the entire time.
"Finding what you were looking for?"
May you like
I spun around.
Alessio was standing in the doorway, his silhouette framed by the dim light of the hallway. He had a glass of whiskey in his hand, and his expression was entirely unreadable.
