Chapter 7 - THE TRAPIsabella contacted them the next morning.
One message.
COME TO THE OLD CASTELLANO THEATER. ALONE.
Dominic stared at it.
"She's setting a trap."
Emma nodded.
"Then why send it?"
"Because she wants something."
"What?"
Dominic looked at her.
"Probably you."
Emma swallowed.
"Then I should go."
"No."
"Dominic—"
"No."
He stepped closer.
"You've been hunted because of my family."
"I know."
"I won't let you walk into a trap."
Emma looked into his eyes.
"What if I'm the only person she wants to talk to?"
He didn't answer.
Finally, he said:
"You stay beside me."
The theater had been abandoned for decades.
Dust covered the seats.
Broken chandeliers hung from the ceiling.
Isabella stood on the stage.
She looked almost exactly like Dominic's father.
Same eyes.
Same jaw.
But colder.
"Dominic."
He raised his weapon.
"Isabella."
She smiled.
"You finally came."
"You killed my father."
"No."
"You destroyed my family."
"I exposed your family."
She turned toward Emma.
"And now I want what belongs to me."
"What?"
"The Castellano trust."
Dominic laughed coldly.
"You've spent twenty years for money?"
"No."
Isabella's eyes hardened.
"Justice."
She explained the truth.
Their father had stolen the original Castellano fortune from their grandmother.
He had manipulated documents.
Destroyed evidence.
Framed Isabella.
But Dominic's father eventually discovered the truth.
He planned to expose everything.
Before he could, Isabella intervened.
Not to kill him.
To stop him from destroying the family.
She hired someone to scare him.
The situation escalated.
He died.
Isabella blamed herself.
But then Dominic entered the picture.
And she watched him become exactly like their father.
Cold.
Powerful.
Untouchable.
She wanted to destroy the empire from within.
"You attacked Emma."
"No."
Isabella shook her head.
"Those men were Kolov's."
Dominic turned toward Kolov.
He had entered through the rear doors.
"I didn't order the attack."
Isabella smiled.
"Of course you did."
Kolov raised his weapon.
"No."
Then gunfire erupted.
Chaos exploded.
Dominic pushed Emma behind a pillar.
Marco returned fire.
Isabella disappeared.
Emma saw her running toward the backstage corridor.
She followed.
"Emma!"
Dominic shouted.
But Emma kept moving.
She found Isabella in a small dressing room.
Isabella turned.
"You."
Emma stopped.
"You attacked me."
"No."
"Then why did you target me?"
"Because your mother hid something."
"What?"
Isabella stepped closer.
"Your father had the original ledger."
Emma froze.
"Where is it?"
"With you."
"What?"
Isabella smiled.
"Your mother gave it to you years ago."
Emma remembered.
A little wooden box her mother had given her on her eighteenth birthday.
She had kept it in storage.
She suddenly understood.
Isabella lunged.
Emma screamed.
Then Dominic appeared.
He pulled Isabella away.
She fought him.
"You're just like your father!"
Dominic froze.
Isabella whispered:
"That's why you were always destined to lose."
She suddenly smiled.
A gunshot echoed.
Isabella collapsed.
Emma stared.
But Dominic hadn't fired.
Neither had Marco.
Then a voice came from the doorway.
"Nobody move."
The police stormed inside.
And behind them stood Emma's father.
He looked at Dominic.
"The ledger isn't in the box."
Dominic frowned.
"Where is it?"
Emma's father looked at his daughter.
"She has it."
Emma stared at him.
"I do?"
May you like
He nodded.
"Your mother's been protecting you all these years."
