Chapter 7 - The Secret of the Bellini Empire
That night, inside the penthouse suite of the Dorchester Hotel, Luca Bellini sat in total darkness, a bottle of crystal decanted scotch sitting untouched on the table beside him.
His chief security officer, Daniel, stood near the balcony doors, watching the city traffic below.
"Boss," Daniel spoke cautiously. "Vanessa just arrived from the Savoy. She's downstairs in the lobby, demanding to see you."
Luca didn't move. "Tell her if she steps into this suite, I will throw her off the balcony."
Daniel remained silent for a moment before nodding. "Understood."
"Daniel," Luca whispered into the dark.
"Yes, boss?"
"Did you see the boy?"
Daniel’s expression softened with genuine sorrow. "I saw him through the window, sir. He... he looks just like you when you were a child. The spitting image of the Bellini family."
Luca buried his face in his hands, his shoulders shaking with silent, agonizing sobs. "Five years... I thought I lost them both in the snow. I thought I killed my own child because I was trying to protect a empire built on lies."
The door to the suite suddenly clicked open.
Vanessa stepped inside, wearing an extravagant gown of emerald silk, her eyes flashing with anger as she pushed past the guards at the door.
"Luca!" she demanded, marching into the dark living room. "What is the meaning of this?! You abandoned the summit! You left me standing alone in front of the European board members!"
Luca slowly stood up from his chair. He walked over to the floor lamp, turning it on. The harsh yellow light illuminated his hollowed, terrifying face.
Vanessa stopped in her tracks, her anger instantly faltering under his cold, dead gaze. "Luca... what's wrong with you?"
"Giana is alive," Luca said quietly.
Vanessa’s breath hitched. She took a sharp step back. "What? That's... that's impossible. She died five years ago—"
"She is alive," Luca repeated, stepping toward her. "She is living here in London. Under the name Giana Vance. She is an internationally acclaimed artist."
Vanessa’s jaw tightened, her panic swiftly transforming into bitter jealousy. "So what?! She abandoned you! She ran away with Julian Vane! She betrayed the family—"
SLAP.
The sound echoed sharply through the penthouse.
Luca hadn't hit her, but he had slammed his palm against the wooden pillar beside her head so hard the wood cracked. Vanessa gasped, pinned against the wall by his sheer presence.
"She left because I let her bleed," Luca whispered, his voice dangerously close to her ear. "She left because you threatened to release the evidence of my father's real cause of death to the federal prosecutors if I didn't protect you that night."
Vanessa swallowed hard, her pulse hammering in her throat. "Your father murdered three federal agents, Luca! If those documents had come out, the entire Bellini empire would have been seized by the government! You would have gone to prison for life! I saved you!"
"You didn't save me," Luca growled, tears of pure venom running down his cheeks. "You blackmailed me. You used my father's sins to force me into a marriage I hated. You made me choose between my family's survival and the only woman I ever loved."
He leaned closer, his dark eyes burning into hers.
"And tonight... I saw my son."
Vanessa’s eyes went wide with pure terror. "Son?"
"A five-year-old boy," Luca whispered. "A boy with my eyes. A boy who doesn't even know my name."
Luca pulled back, turning his back on her as he walked toward the balcony.
"Get out, Vanessa," he said, his tone devoid of all emotion. "Tomorrow morning, my lawyers will file for an annulment of our marriage. I am transferring fifty percent of the Bellini assets to the federal authorities as a plea bargain to settle my father's estate once and for all."
May you like
Vanessa screamed in horror. "Are you insane?! You'll lose everything! You'll ruin the family name!"
"The family name died five years ago in the snow," Luca said quietly, looking out over the rain-drenched lights of London. "I don't care about the money. I don't care about the empire. I am going to win my wife and son back... or die trying."
