Chapter 8 - THE PERSON WHO PUT ME IN THE RESTAURANT
The next morning, Columbia University looked exactly as it always had.
Students crossed the courtyard.
Professors hurried between buildings.
People carried coffee and complained about deadlines.
Nobody knew that a legal battle worth hundreds of millions had begun with one mistranslated word.
I walked beside Dominic.
Neither of us spoke much.
He had insisted on coming with me.
Not as a mafia boss.
Not as a businessman.
Just as someone who had finally realized how dangerous the people around us were.
My advisor, Professor Adrian Vale, met us in his office.
He looked surprised to see Dominic.
Then he saw me.
“Casey.”
I placed the contract on his desk.
“Who translated this?”
His expression changed.
“What is this?”
“You know.”
He picked it up.
Then looked at Dominic.
“I think you should leave.”
Dominic smiled without humor.
“No.”
Professor Vale sat down.
“Casey, you're making a serious mistake.”
“Did you alter the German clause?”
“No.”
“The Italian clause?”
“No.”
“Then who did?”
He remained silent.
I took out the photograph of my mother.
Then placed it beside the contract.
“Do you know Mary Evelyn Miller?”
His face changed.
That was enough.
“You do.”
Professor Vale stood.
“Casey, your mother was involved in something very dangerous.”
“I know.”
“You don't understand.”
“Then explain.”
He looked at Dominic.
“Your father destroyed people.”
“My father is dead.”
“Not anymore.”
I stared.
“You're saying Frank survived?”
“No.”
Professor Vale walked toward a cabinet.
He removed an old folder.
“This is Jonathan Russo.”
Inside was a photograph.
My father.
Professor Vale continued.
“Jonathan hired your mother because he needed someone he trusted.”
“Trusted for what?”
“To uncover fraudulent translations.”
The same thing I studied.
The same thing that had brought me to the restaurant.
I suddenly understood.
“My research wasn't random.”
Professor Vale shook his head.
“Your mother asked me to supervise you.”
My stomach dropped.
“She chose my field?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because she wanted you to recognize the same pattern if it ever appeared.”
Dominic looked at me.
“She trained you without telling you.”
My mother had spent my entire life preparing me for a war I didn't know existed.
Professor Vale opened another file.
Inside was a photograph of a woman.
I recognized her.
Victoria.
“She wasn't the person who recruited you to the restaurant,” Professor Vale said.
I frowned.
“I applied there myself.”
“No.”
He handed me another document.
My original employment application.
The signature wasn't mine.
I stared.
“I never wrote this.”
Dominic took it.
“Who submitted it?”
Professor Vale pointed to the bottom.
“Bellini Legal Services.”
My blood ran cold.
“They put me there.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“To place you close to Dominic.”
I looked at him.
“Why?”
Professor Vale hesitated.
“Because they needed someone who could identify the translation error.”
“And they knew I could.”
“Yes.”
“So the restaurant scene was planned.”
“Not entirely.”
I remembered Victoria insulting me.
Dominic asking questions.
The contract.
My fountain pen.
Professor Vale nodded.
“Bellini expected you to notice.”
“But they didn't expect me to notice the holding company.”
“No.”
I looked at Dominic.
“They didn't know about my mother.”
Dominic's expression hardened.
“Then someone did.”
Professor Vale lowered his voice.
“Your mother suspected Bellini had a second client.”
“Who?”
He looked at the door.
Then whispered—
“Your father's former partner.”
“Who?”
“Samuel Bellini.”
The name landed heavily.
Dominic's eyes narrowed.
“Bellini's founder?”
“Yes.”
“He died.”
“No.”
Another person who was supposed to be dead.
Professor Vale continued.
“He has been operating through the law firm for decades.”
I looked at the contract.
“What does he want?”
“Control.”
“Of what?”
“Everything your father built.”
Dominic shook his head.
“He already has access.”
Professor Vale nodded.
“But he doesn't have the one thing he needs.”
“What?”
He looked at me.
“You.”
I felt cold.
“Why me?”
“Because Jonathan's original trust can only be activated by his direct heirs.”
Dominic stared.
“And Casey is one.”
“Yes.”
“What happens if she signs?”
Professor Vale looked at me.
“Bellini gets control.”
I suddenly understood.
The restaurant.
The contract.
My job.
The hospital.
The forged medical records.
My mother's fake diagnosis.
Everything had been designed to force me into a position where I would eventually sign.
I looked at Dominic.
“They weren't trying to kill me.”
“No.”
“They were trying to make me desperate.”
He nodded.
“My mother's medical bills.”
“Exactly.”
I sat down.
For the first time, I understood why the bills had always been impossible.
Someone had wanted me financially cornered.
Professor Vale reached into the folder.
“There is one final document.”
He handed it to me.
A handwritten note from Jonathan.
I recognized the handwriting from the photograph.
CASEY WILL SAVE WHAT I COULD NOT.
My eyes filled.
Below it was another sentence.
BUT ONLY IF DOMINIC CHOOSES HER OVER THE EMPIRE.
I looked at Dominic.
He stared at the words.
Then laughed quietly.
“My father knew me better than I thought.”
“What does it mean?”
Dominic took the document.
“It means Bellini can't win if I refuse the inheritance.”
I shook my head.
“But if we both refuse?”
Professor Vale smiled sadly.
“Then the trust passes to the next named beneficiary.”
“Who?”
He didn't answer.
He simply turned the page.
The name was written there.
May you like
Victoria Russo.
Dominic went completely still.
