Chapter 6 - REBECCA’S LAST WARNING
Daniel wanted Nico arrested immediately.
Dominic refused.
“We still don’t know everyone involved.”
“You know enough.”
“I know three names.”
“Vanessa. Calder. Nico.”
Dominic shook his head.
“Three people do not build this kind of plan without money.”
Daniel leaned back.
They were gathered in Rebecca Romano’s old library, a room Vanessa never used.
Claire stood near the fireplace.
Mrs. Hargrove brought in coffee.
Nobody touched it.
Dominic spread the documents across the table.
“The fake bracelet came from a custom jeweler.”
“Paid by Vanessa,” Daniel said.
“The cake order was rerouted.”
“Nico had access.”
“Calder altered medical records.”
“Again, we have them.”
Dominic tapped the estate amendment.
“But who knew this clause existed?”
Daniel stopped.
Claire looked at Dominic.
“Your attorney?”
“Dead two years.”
“Accountant?”
“Retired.”
“Family?”
Dominic did not answer.
That was answer enough.
Claire lowered her voice.
“Who else?”
Dominic looked toward Rebecca’s portrait above the fireplace.
“My uncle.”
Vittorio Romano.
The man who had run the family businesses before Dominic.
The man who had taught him everything.
The man who had introduced him to Henry Calder.
“He has copies of every major family trust,” Dominic said.
Daniel swore under his breath.
Mrs. Hargrove suddenly set down the coffee tray.
A cup rattled.
Everyone looked at her.
“What?” Dominic asked.
The older woman had turned pale.
“Rebecca.”
Dominic stood.
“What about her?”
“Three weeks before she died, she gave me something.”
His face changed.
“What?”
“She told me not to give it to you unless I became afraid for Lily.”
Silence.
Dominic stared at the woman who had helped raise him.
“And you are mentioning this now?”
Tears filled Mrs. Hargrove’s eyes.
“She was dying. Heavily medicated. She was frightened of everyone. I thought the cancer had confused her.”
“What did she give you?”
Mrs. Hargrove crossed the room to an antique writing desk.
She reached beneath the lowest drawer.
A hidden compartment clicked open.
Inside was a sealed envelope.
Dominic’s name was written across it in Rebecca’s handwriting.
His hands trembled when he took it.
Claire looked away.
Some moments did not belong to witnesses.
Dominic opened the envelope.
Inside were three pages.
He read the first paragraph.
Then sat down.
Claire had never seen him look defeated.
“What does it say?” Daniel asked softly.
Dominic could not answer.
He handed him the pages.
Daniel read aloud.
“Dominic, if you are reading this, something has happened that made Evelyn afraid for Lily. I hope I was wrong. I hope illness made me suspicious. But if I was not wrong, do not trust Henry with our daughter’s medical care.”
Claire’s skin prickled.
Daniel continued.
“Vanessa asked twice about Lily’s trust. She laughed when I asked why. Henry has been speaking privately with Vittorio. Last Tuesday I heard them arguing in the conservatory about signatures and timing.”
Dominic closed his eyes.
The final paragraph was shorter.
“Vittorio believes you became weak when Lily was born. He said fathers make bad kings because children give enemies a place to cut them. I did not tell you because you were already fighting too many battles. If I am gone, protect our girl. And please do not become so hard protecting her that she loses you too.”
No one spoke.
Dominic took the letter back.
His thumb moved across Rebecca’s signature.
Claire felt something ache inside her chest.
Four years.
Rebecca had been dead four years.
Her warning had waited beneath a drawer while the people she feared remained inside Lily’s life.
Dominic stood abruptly.
“I want Vittorio brought here.”
Daniel blocked him.
“No.”
Dominic’s eyes flashed.
“Again?”
“If your uncle is financing this, he may panic if Nico disappears or Calder stops answering.”
“He tried to kill my child.”
“And I want him convicted for it.”
Dominic laughed without humor.
“You think a courtroom is what I want?”
Claire spoke.
“It should be.”
Both men turned.
Claire’s heart pounded.
But she continued.
“If you handle this the way everyone expects Dominic Romano to handle betrayal, Lily loses you too.”
His expression hardened.
“You don’t know what everyone expects.”
“I know exactly what they expect.”
She stepped closer.
“They expect men to vanish. Cars to burn. People to become rumors.”
Mrs. Hargrove looked down.
Claire did not.
“And maybe that would make you feel powerful for a night.”
Dominic’s jaw tightened.
“But Lily doesn’t need revenge. She needs her father.”
The words struck him.
Claire could see it.
Rebecca’s final warning lay open on the table between them.
Do not become so hard protecting her that she loses you too.
Dominic looked at the letter.
Then at Claire.
“What do you suggest?”
Daniel answered.
“We make them believe the plan can continue.”
Dominic frowned.
Daniel tapped the estate amendment.
“Vanessa believes the engagement still exists.”
“Barely.”
“Good. We tell her Lily’s incident frightened you. Tell her you want to move the wedding forward.”
Claire understood.
“She’ll think Dominic is vulnerable.”
“Yes.”
Dominic’s expression turned cold.
“And then?”
“We give them what they need.”
“A wedding?”
“No.”
Daniel smiled grimly.
“A signature.”
Two days later, Vanessa was permitted to leave the guest suite.
Dominic apologized.
Claire nearly admired his performance.
He told Vanessa fear had made him irrational.
He said Calder’s medical decisions had confused him.
He claimed the forged receipt had strengthened suspicion against Claire.
Vanessa listened.
Then cried.
She threw herself into his arms.
Claire watched from the upstairs landing.
Dominic did not look at her.
That was part of the plan.
By evening, Claire had been publicly dismissed.
Her suitcase was carried downstairs.
A car took her through the front gate.
Then circled through a wooded service road and returned her through the old greenhouse entrance.
For the next forty-eight hours, Claire remained hidden in Rebecca’s private suite.
Lily knew she was there.
Nobody else did.
At dinner on the second night, Vanessa finally made her move.
A hidden microphone beneath Dominic’s dining table captured every word.
“You know,” Vanessa said softly, “Rebecca would hate seeing you alone like this.”
Dominic poured wine.
“I’m not alone.”
“You know what I mean.”
A pause.
“Move the wedding up.”
Vanessa pretended surprise.
“What?”
“Next month.”
Her breathing changed.
Daniel listened from a monitoring van outside.
Claire listened through headphones upstairs.
Vanessa touched Dominic’s hand.
“I thought you doubted me.”
“I was afraid.”
She softened her voice.
“Oh, Dominic.”
Then came the sentence they had been waiting for.
“If we’re doing this sooner, we should update the estate documents too.”
Claire closed her eyes.
There it was.
Dominic asked, “Why?”
“Because Lily’s accident made me think about how unprepared we are.”
“What changes?”
“Nothing dramatic.”
Paper slid across the table.
Claire’s stomach tightened.
Vanessa had brought documents.
“Henry already spoke with someone who can make the language simpler.”
Dominic paused.
“Henry?”
Vanessa went silent.
Too late.
Dominic said nothing.
Vanessa tried to recover.
“I mean, before all this. We discussed how complicated trusts can be.”
“Who is ‘we’?”
Silence.
Then another voice came through the microphone.
Male.
Older.
From the doorway.
“You should sign it, Dominic.”
Claire froze.
Daniel whispered through the headset.
“Target four just entered.”
Dominic looked toward the dining-room door.
Vittorio Romano stepped inside.
Silver-haired.
Immaculate suit.
Smiling like an uncle arriving for dinner.
Claire heard Dominic say one word.
“Uncle.”
Vittorio sat opposite him.
“You have always been too sentimental about paperwork.”
Dominic’s voice was almost calm.
“Were you sentimental when you tried to kill my daughter?”
Vanessa gasped.
May you like
Vittorio did not.
And in that single second, Claire knew they had finally found the man at the center of everything.
