Chapter 6 - THE DAUGHTER OF A DEAD KING
I listened to the recording four times.
Each time, my mother's voice sounded more real.
Not like a ghost.
Not like a memory.
Like a woman sitting across the kitchen table, warning me to lock the door before going to bed.
Dante found me on the nursery floor.
Leo was asleep in his crib.
The transmitter rested in my trembling hands.
“What happened?”
I looked up.
“My mother left this.”
Dante crouched beside me.
“Let me hear it.”
I pressed play.
His expression changed when Nora mentioned Leo.
When the recording ended, he didn't speak.
“Tell me what it means,” I demanded.
“I don't know.”
“You're lying.”
Dante looked at me.
“I've lied about many things in my life, Alina. This isn't one of them.”
I wanted to believe him.
That frightened me more than anything.
Marco entered.
“We found the intruder.”
Dante stood.
“Alive?”
“Yes.”
“Who?”
Marco hesitated.
“Father Michael.”
Dante froze.
The name meant nothing to me.
“Who's Father Michael?”
Dante's expression darkened.
“The priest who baptized Leo.”
Twenty minutes later, we stood in the estate's underground security room.
An elderly priest sat between two guards.
His hands were folded.
His face was pale.
When he saw me, he began crying.
“Sofia.”
I stopped.
“Why does everyone keep calling me that?”
The priest lowered his head.
“Because that was the name your mother gave you.”
“Which mother?”
He looked toward Dante.
“The woman who raised her was Evelyn Bellandi.”
I swallowed.
“And my biological mother?”
The priest closed his eyes.
“Caterina Moretti.”
Dante took a step back.
“My mother?”
The priest nodded.
I stared at him.
“Then Dante is my brother?”
“No.”
Dante's voice was sharp.
“Explain.”
The priest looked terrified.
“Caterina was pregnant twice. Dante was her first child. The second pregnancy was concealed.”
Vittorio entered the room.
He had heard enough.
“That's impossible.”
Father Michael looked at him.
“You were overseas when the child was born.”
Vittorio's face drained.
“I was in Palermo.”
“Yes.”
The priest continued.
“Caterina gave birth to a daughter at the Bellandi clinic. But the baby was not yours.”
Silence.
Dante looked at his father.
Vittorio gripped his cane.
“Whose child?”
The priest whispered.
“Lorenzo Bellandi.”
The name struck Vittorio like a physical blow.
He staggered.
Dante caught him.
“Who was Lorenzo?”
Vittorio's voice was hollow.
“Elena's brother.”
The priest nodded.
“Caterina and Lorenzo had an affair.”
I couldn't breathe.
“So Dante and I share a mother?”
“Yes.”
The priest looked at me.
“But not a father.”
I stared at Dante.
He stared back.
Whatever strange attraction had begun between us vanished beneath a truth neither of us could ignore.
We were half siblings.
My stomach twisted.
Dante stepped away.
His expression became unreadable.
Then he turned to Marco.
“Get fresh DNA samples from everyone. No archived records. No assumptions.”
The priest nodded.
“That's wise.”
Something in his tone made Dante turn.
“What aren't you telling us?”
Father Michael lowered his eyes.
“Because the documents were altered.”
“By whom?”
“Salvatore.”
Vittorio closed his eyes.
The priest continued.
“Twenty-five years ago, Salvatore discovered Caterina's affair. He intended to use the child to destroy Lorenzo Bellandi and seize his shipping empire.”
I felt sick.
“What happened?”
“Lorenzo learned about the plan. He tried to escape with Caterina and the baby.”
“Me?”
The priest nodded.
“But Salvatore's men intercepted them.”
My hands began shaking.
“Did they kill my father?”
The priest looked at me with unbearable sadness.
“Yes.”
I covered my mouth.
“And Caterina?”
“She survived the attack but died weeks later from her injuries.”
Dante turned away.
For the first time since meeting him, he looked completely lost.
“My mother died when I was twelve,” he said.
The priest shook his head.
“The woman who raised you was not Caterina.”
Dante slowly turned back.
“What?”
“Her name was Bianca Moretti. Caterina's younger sister.”
Vittorio sank into a chair.
The priest's voice trembled.
“Salvatore arranged the identities after the massacre. He needed the world to believe Caterina had survived. Bianca agreed because she feared he would kill Dante.”
I stared at Dante.
The room seemed to move beneath us.
“So we aren't siblings?”
The priest looked at me.
“No.”
“Then why did the records say—”
“Because Salvatore wanted them to.”
Dante's eyes narrowed.
“Why?”
The priest hesitated.
“Because he knew what would happen if you two became close.”
I felt heat rise into my face.
Dante remained motionless.
The priest continued.
“Your families were supposed to be united through marriage. Lorenzo Bellandi and Bianca Moretti were promised to each other before the massacre.”
Vittorio whispered, “Dear God.”
The priest looked at Dante.
“Salvatore feared the surviving heirs would eventually discover the truth.”
“What truth?” Dante demanded.
The priest took a deep breath.
“That the Bellandi empire was never destroyed.”
He looked at me.
“It was hidden.”
My heart pounded.
“Where?”
The priest's eyes moved toward the pendant.
“Inside the only thing your mother never allowed you to remove.”
I looked down.
The silver oval felt suddenly heavy.
Dante approached.
“Alina.”
I stepped back.
“No more secrets.”
He stopped.
I held up the pendant.
“No more half-truths. No more dead women who aren't dead. No more fathers who aren't fathers.”
My voice broke.
“I want to know who I am.”
The priest looked at me.
“You are Sofia Bellandi.”
I closed my eyes.
“And?”
May you like
His answer changed everything.
“You are the sole surviving heir to a fortune worth more than four billion dollars.”
