Chapter 8 - VIVIENNE’S SECRET
Alessandro moved Livia behind him.
Rosalie stepped forward.
“Don’t move.”
Vivienne looked horrified.
“No. No, I didn’t take her.”
Livia shook her head.
“Not Grandma Vivienne.”
Everyone froze.
Vivienne’s shoulders sagged.
Livia pointed past her.
“There.”
A woman ran between the trees.
Rosalie took off after her.
“Rosalie!” Alessandro shouted.
Security followed.
Alessandro stayed with Livia.
Daniel cursed.
“I know that woman.”
“Who?”
“Bianca’s assistant.”
“Mara?”
“Yes.”
Alessandro had seen Mara Collins a hundred times.
Quiet.
Efficient.
Always behind Bianca with a clipboard.
Always invisible.
Vivienne pressed a hand to her chest.
“Why would Mara take Livia?”
Daniel gave her a grim look.
“Because Mara does whatever Bianca tells her.”
Livia stiffened.
Alessandro felt it.
He looked down.
“What?”
She hesitated.
“Bianca told the lady something.”
“When?”
“Before she cut my hair.”
Alessandro crouched.
“What did she say?”
Livia’s voice became small.
“She said if I messed up today, I’d be gone by Monday.”
His throat tightened.
“Gone where?”
“She didn’t say.”
Vivienne closed her eyes.
The boarding school.
Alessandro picked Livia up.
“We’re leaving.”
Daniel stepped into his path.
“You need to hear the rest.”
“Not now.”
“If you walk away without knowing, Bianca will control the story.”
“I don’t care about the story.”
“You should. Because the money she stole?”
Daniel paused.
“It wasn’t mine.”
Alessandro stared.
“Whose was it?”
“Yours.”
Silence.
Daniel continued.
“She’s been moving money through vendors connected to your companies for almost a year.”
Alessandro slowly lowered Livia to the ground beside Vivienne.
“What are you talking about?”
“Fake invoices. Inflated wedding contracts. Consulting companies that don’t exist.”
“That’s impossible.”
“Check Moretti Hospitality.”
Alessandro’s company owned twelve luxury hotels.
Bianca’s event firm had worked with four of them.
Daniel pulled a flash drive from his pocket.
“I have records.”
“Why?”
“Because my name is attached to two shell companies she used.”
Rosalie returned through the trees.
Alone.
“She got into a car.”
Security followed, breathing hard.
“We got the plate.”
Alessandro took the drive.
Daniel lowered his voice.
“This wedding was never just a wedding.”
“What was it?”
“Protection.”
“From what?”
“You.”
Alessandro stared at him.
Daniel continued.
“She needed access to your family trust, your name, and spousal privilege before the transfers were discovered.”
Alessandro felt sick.
Then his phone rang.
Bianca.
He answered.
“Where are you?”
Her voice was shaking.
“At the chapel.”
“Stay there.”
“Did you find Livia?”
“Yes.”
Bianca exhaled.
“Oh, thank God.”
Alessandro looked at his daughter’s uneven hair.
At the red marks around her wrists.
Then at the flash drive in his hand.
“I’m coming back.”
Bianca whispered, “Are we still getting married?”
Alessandro looked toward the chapel bells in the distance.
“Yes.”
Rosalie whipped around.
“What?”
Bianca sobbed with relief.
“Oh, Alessandro—”
He ended the call.
Rosalie stared at him like he had lost his mind.
“You cannot be serious.”
He slipped the flash drive into his pocket.
“Oh, I’m serious.”
May you like
He looked toward the chapel.
“But Bianca and I are going to have a very different ceremony than the one she planned.”
