Chapter 7 - THE WIFE WHO KNEW TOO MUCH
Frank stared at Victoria.
“You.”
Victoria held the contract tightly.
“You always underestimated me.”
Frank laughed.
“You were my son's wife.”
“I was.”
Dominic looked at her.
“Victoria.”
She didn't look at him.
“Get Casey away from him.”
Frank tightened his grip.
“Don't move.”
Victoria held up the contract.
“This is what you wanted.”
Frank's eyes moved toward it.
“The original?”
“Yes.”
“Give it to me.”
“No.”
His expression changed.
“You're in no position to bargain.”
Victoria smiled sadly.
“That's where you're wrong.”
She placed the contract on the floor.
Then stepped back.
“Read the final clause.”
Frank stared.
Dominic moved closer.
I could barely breathe.
Frank finally lowered his eyes.
The clause was written in three languages.
German.
Italian.
English.
I recognized the wording immediately.
The same ambiguity.
The same deliberate translation trap.
But this time, the person trapped by it was Frank.
I whispered—
“It's not an ownership clause.”
Frank looked at me.
“What?”
“It's a surrender clause.”
Dominic understood.
“You signed away control.”
Frank stared at the page.
“No.”
Victoria nodded.
“Your father wrote it.”
“My father?”
“Jonathan.”
Frank looked furious.
“Jonathan is dead.”
“Yes.”
“But he knew you would steal his identity.”
Victoria's voice shook.
“He prepared for it.”
My mother stepped forward.
“He knew you would eventually use Dominic.”
Frank stared at her.
“How?”
“Because you always wanted what wasn't yours.”
Frank's gun lowered slightly.
That was enough.
Dominic moved.
He struck Frank's wrist.
The gun fell.
Marco grabbed him.
Federal agents rushed forward.
Frank fought hard.
But there were too many.
Within seconds, he was restrained.
I collapsed against the wall.
Dominic came toward me.
“Casey.”
I nodded.
“I’m okay.”
He looked at Victoria.
“What did you know?”
Victoria finally faced him.
“Everything.”
He stared.
“Everything?”
“Not at first.”
She looked exhausted.
“When I married you, I thought your father was dead.”
“So did I.”
“I discovered the truth three years ago.”
“Why didn't you tell me?”
“Because I was afraid.”
“Of him?”
“Yes.”
She looked at me.
“And because he threatened Casey.”
I looked at her.
“You knew about me?”
“I knew Jonathan had a daughter.”
“Did you know it was me?”
“Not until your mother contacted me.”
My mother nodded.
“She asked Victoria to watch you.”
Victoria swallowed.
“I did.”
Dominic looked hurt.
“You lied to me.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because if I told you, your father would know you knew.”
He said nothing.
Then asked—
“Did you ever love me?”
Victoria's eyes filled.
“Yes.”
The answer was simple.
No excuses.
No manipulation.
“I still do,” she whispered.
“But I don't know if love is enough to repair what I did.”
Dominic looked away.
I watched them.
For the first time, I understood Victoria differently.
She wasn't innocent.
But she wasn't the villain I had believed either.
She had been afraid.
And fear had made her lie.
My mother came toward me.
“I am sorry.”
I hugged her.
“You should have told me.”
“I know.”
“You let me believe you were dying.”
“I know.”
“Why?”
“Because if I told you the truth, you would have gone looking for answers.”
“I did anyway.”
She smiled through tears.
“You were always stubborn.”
Dominic approached.
“There's still one problem.”
“What?”
“The contract.”
I looked at the document.
“You said the clause transfers control to Jonathan's heirs.”
My mother nodded.
“That's you.”
I stared.
“But Dominic is his son too.”
“Yes.”
Dominic looked at me.
“Then we share it.”
“No.”
He frowned.
“What?”
“I don't want an empire.”
He almost smiled.
“Neither do I.”
My mother laughed softly.
“Then perhaps Jonathan finally got what he wanted.”
“What?”
“A family that doesn't care about the money.”
A federal agent approached.
“Mr. Russo.”
Dominic turned.
“We found another file.”
“What file?”
“The original medical records.”
My heart stopped.
“Mine?”
“No.”
He looked at my mother.
“Mary Evelyn Miller.”
She stiffened.
“What about them?”
“The records show you were never diagnosed with stage-four renal failure.”
Silence.
I looked at my mother.
“What?”
She began crying.
“I had kidney disease.”
“But not stage four?”
“No.”
“Then why?”
She looked at Dominic.
“Because someone changed my records.”
The agent continued.
“The diagnosis was used to transfer a large insurance settlement.”
Dominic frowned.
“Who benefited?”
The agent handed him a document.
Dominic read it.
Then looked at Victoria.
Victoria's face went pale.
“It wasn't me.”
Dominic looked at the signature.
“No.”
He turned the paper around.
The beneficiary was not Victoria.
Not Frank.
Not Dominic.
It was a company.
Bellini Legal Services.
The same law firm that prepared the contract.
The same firm that had almost transferred Dominic's empire.
I felt the pieces connect.
“They were working for someone else.”
Dominic nodded.
“Someone who wanted both sides to lose.”
My mother looked at the contract.
Then whispered—
“There was another translator.”
I stared.
“Who?”
She looked at me.
“The person who altered the German clause.”
I suddenly remembered the restaurant.
The folder.
The fountain pen.
The word.
My mother grabbed my hand.
“Casey, there's something you don't know.”
“What?”
“The mistake wasn't made by Bellini.”
May you like
She looked toward Dominic.
“It was made by someone at Columbia.”
