Chapter 11 - The Engagement Was Never About Love.
The first reporter appeared outside Belladonna House before sunrise.
By seven, there were twelve.
By eight, there were satellite vans parked along the avenue and camera crews waiting behind the gates.
Someone had leaked enough of the story to make it irresistible.
UNKNOWN MAID CLAIMS MORETTI FORTUNE.
SECRET HEIR APPEARS AT ENGAGEMENT DISASTER.
VINCENT MORETTI'S FIANCEE OUT AFTER BALLROOM SCANDAL.
Isabella read the headlines from the breakfast table and felt her stomach turn.
"They make it sound like I walked in wearing a fake crown," she said.
Vincent stood near the window with his phone pressed to his ear.
Dominic was in the hallway directing security.
Janet Keene had flown in overnight and occupied the far end of the table with three binders and a legal pad.
"Do not read comments," Janet said.
Isabella looked at her.
"I wasn't planning to."
"Good."
"Why?"
"Because strangers become very brave when they believe nobody can see them."
Isabella set the phone facedown.
"I worked banquet service for five years."
"I already know what strangers are like."
Vincent ended his call.
"The leak came from a board member."
Janet looked up.
"Patrick?"
"He denies it."
Isabella raised an eyebrow.
"That almost sounds like proof."
Vincent sat across from her.
"He has also moved tonight's board meeting to eleven."
"Why eleven?"
"He wants directors tired and lawyers scrambling."
Janet nodded.
"Old tactic."
"Does it work?"
"Often enough that people keep using it."
Mrs. Alvarez entered with fresh coffee.
She placed a cup beside Isabella, then hesitated.
"There is someone at the service entrance asking for you."
Vincent stood immediately.
"Who?"
Mrs. Alvarez looked uncomfortable.
"Miss DeMarco."
Isabella stared at her.
"Vivian came through the staff entrance?"
"She asked not to be seen by reporters."
Vincent's expression was unreadable.
"Send her away."
Isabella lifted a hand.
"Wait."
He looked at her.
"She came asking for me."
"That's usually not a good sign."
"Neither was the riding crop."
Isabella stood.
"But I'm still here."
Vivian waited in the downstairs staff dining room.
She wore dark sunglasses despite being indoors.
Her hair was pulled into a simple ponytail.
For the first time, Isabella saw her without diamonds.
Vivian looked smaller without an audience.
That did not make Isabella trust her.
"You wanted me," Isabella said.
Vivian looked toward Vincent and Dominic behind her.
"I wanted you alone."
"That wasn't going to happen."
Vivian removed her sunglasses.
Her eyes were swollen from lack of sleep.
"Fine."
She placed a small digital recorder on the table.
Dominic looked at it.
"What's that?"
"Insurance."
Vincent folded his arms.
"Against whom?"
Vivian laughed without humor.
"Everyone."
Isabella remained standing.
"Why are you here?"
Vivian looked at her for a long moment.
"Because my father told me to leave the country this morning."
"Did you?"
"I'm sitting in a basement dining room."
"That answers location, not intention."
Vivian's mouth tightened.
"I came to tell you the engagement was arranged."
Vincent's face did not change.
Isabella looked at him.
"You knew?"
"No."
Vivian gave him a bitter look.
"You thought I spent six years accidentally attending every charity event where you appeared?"
Vincent stared at her.
"Apparently I overestimated your spontaneity."
"My father introduced us on purpose."
"Patrick Sloan helped."
"They wanted us married before the old trust questions returned."
Janet stepped into the room behind them.
"Why would marriage matter to the trust?"
Vivian looked at her.
"Because Vincent's personal voting block plus the DeMarco family's preferred shares would have given us effective control even if Teresa's branch resurfaced."
Isabella felt a wave of disgust.
"So I was hired to see whether your problem was real before the wedding."
Vivian lowered her eyes.
"Yes."
"You knew my name."
"Yes."
"You knew about the locket."
"I knew there was a Moretti family locket."
"I didn't know if yours was genuine."
Isabella's voice sharpened.
"So you ordered me into a room with two hundred people and tried to make me kneel."
Vivian looked at her.
"That part was me."
The answer surprised everyone.
Vivian did not try to soften it.
"My father told me to get the necklace if I confirmed it."
"He did not tell me to humiliate you."
"I was angry."
"I was embarrassed about the champagne."
"I wanted everyone to see that I was in control."
She swallowed.
"I wasn't."
Isabella stared at her.
"Do you expect me to forgive you because you admitted it?"
"No."
"Good."
"I expect you to understand that I am not asking for forgiveness."
Vivian pushed the recorder toward her.
"I'm asking for a chance to make my father afraid of the truth for once."
Dominic put on gloves and picked up the device.
"What's on it?"
"A conversation between my father and Patrick."
"When?"
"Three months ago."
Vincent looked at her.
"You recorded them before the engagement party."
"Yes."
"Why?"
Vivian laughed softly.
"Because I grew up watching my father destroy people who trusted him."
"I learned early that evidence survives affection."
Dominic connected the recorder to a secure laptop.
The audio began with the sound of glasses and distant music.
Then Carlo's voice.
"If the Romano girl has Teresa's locket, we need it before Vincent sees it."
Patrick answered.
"The locket doesn't change the proxy."
"The daughter changes the trust."
"Only if she can prove Teresa remained Moretti."
Carlo laughed.
"The locket proves Lucia kept the chain alive."
Patrick's voice lowered.
"Then Vivian marries Vincent before anyone files a claim."
"Once the voting blocks combine, we can settle with the girl quietly."
Carlo spoke again.
"And if she doesn't settle?"
Patrick paused.
"Everyone settles."
The recording ended.
Isabella stared at Vivian.
"You knew they planned to pay me off."
"Yes."
"And you still went through with the engagement."
Vivian's expression hardened defensively.
"I spent my whole life being told that marriage was a business decision with flowers."
Isabella stepped closer.
"That explains you."
"It does not excuse you."
Vivian looked away.
"I know."
Vincent leaned against the wall.
He did not look heartbroken.
He looked insulted by how thoroughly he had been managed.
"Was any part of us real?" he asked.
Vivian looked at him.
The question stripped the room of strategy.
For a moment, she was simply a woman answering a man she had nearly married.
"Some of it."
Vincent's jaw tightened.
"Which part?"
"The part where I liked you more than I expected."
"That is a low bar."
"It's the truth."
"You could have told me."
"And become what?"
Vivian's voice rose.
"The daughter who betrayed Carlo DeMarco before she had anywhere else to go?"
Vincent looked at Isabella.
"Apparently fear is the family business in every house."
Vivian heard him.
"Don't compare me to Teresa."
Isabella's voice turned cold.
"Nobody did."
Vivian flinched.
Janet held out her hand for the recorder.
"If this is authentic, it matters."
Vivian looked at Isabella.
"There is more."
"Of course there is."
"Patrick has a document he plans to use tonight."
Vincent straightened.
"What document?"
"A renunciation signed by Teresa."
Isabella went still.
"Renunciation of what?"
"Her trust shares."
Janet's eyes narrowed.
"Have you seen it?"
"A copy."
"Is the signature real?"
Vivian hesitated.
"It looks real."
Isabella's stomach dropped.
Vincent looked at Janet.
"If Teresa signed away the shares, what happens?"
Janet answered carefully.
"If the document is valid and enforceable, Isabella may have no voting claim."
Isabella felt strangely calm.
After everything they had learned, money was the least painful thing Teresa could have lost.
"Then we prove whether it's real."
Vivian looked at her.
"You don't seem upset."
Isabella gave her a tired smile.
"I found out my mother spent half her life protecting me from people who thought everything had a price."
"I'm not going to dishonor her by panicking over shares."
Vincent's expression shifted.
Vivian lowered her eyes.
"Patrick thinks you will."
"Patrick doesn't know me."
"He thinks everyone wants Belladonna."
Isabella looked toward the ceiling, toward the enormous mansion above them.
"That's because he's never had to clean one of its bathrooms."
Mrs. Alvarez, standing near the doorway, covered a smile.
Even Vincent laughed once.
The tension broke for three seconds.
Then Dominic's phone rang.
He answered and listened.
His expression changed.
"What?" Vincent asked.
Dominic put the phone down.
"Patrick filed the renunciation with the court an hour ago."
Janet closed her eyes.
"He moved faster than I expected."
Isabella looked at Vivian.
"Can you get us the copy you saw?"
Vivian nodded.
"Yes."
"Do it."
Vivian stood.
At the door, Isabella stopped her.
"One more thing."
Vivian looked back.
"What?"
"You don't get to become the hero because your father finally scared you."
Vivian's face tightened.
"I know."
"Good."
Isabella held her gaze.
May you like
"Bring the document anyway."
THE LOCKET OF BELLADONNA HOUSE
