Chapter 14 - The Last Secret Between Them
Ruby sat alone with the laptop.
For once, she had followed a warning.
Dante waited outside Charles's hospital room.
Her uncle was in surgery.
Alive.
Barely.
Ruby opened the file.
CATHERINE.
One video.
Dated six months before Catherine Gallagher's supposed death.
Ruby pressed play.
Catherine appeared.
Younger.
Nervous.
"Ruby, if you're seeing this, then something went wrong."
Ruby sighed.
Apparently this was the official Gallagher family greeting.
Catherine continued.
"There is one final truth Patrick couldn't tell you."
Ruby braced herself.
"It concerns Dante."
Of course.
"If you married him, then he probably never discovered why Vittorio chose him to lead the family."
Ruby frowned.
"He believes Vittorio wasn't his biological father."
Correct.
"That is true."
Ruby leaned closer.
"But Vittorio knew Dante's real father."
Catherine paused.
"And so did I."
Ruby's pulse quickened.
"Dante's biological father was Thomas Gallagher."
Ruby stopped breathing.
Her grandfather's brother.
A Gallagher.
Catherine continued.
"Thomas had an affair with Dante's mother before she married Vittorio."
Ruby's mind raced.
That would make Dante biologically connected to her adoptive family.
Not by blood to Ruby, since Ruby wasn't biologically Gallagher.
But emotionally—
Catherine kept speaking.
"Thomas died before Dante was born. Vittorio raised Dante as his own because he loved Dante's mother."
Ruby wiped her eyes.
"Patrick discovered the truth years later."
A photograph appeared.
Patrick.
Dante's mother.
Thomas Gallagher.
Young.
Smiling.
"Dante never knew."
Ruby whispered, "Why hide this?"
Catherine answered as if hearing her.
"Because Thomas left shares in Gallagher Holdings to any surviving biological descendants."
Ruby's heart stopped.
Dante had a legal claim.
A large one.
Maybe larger than hers.
Catherine continued.
"If those shares are activated, Dante could control Gallagher Holdings."
Ruby stared.
There it was.
The final threat.
The reason Charles said not to open the file in front of Dante.
But Catherine wasn't finished.
"Patrick feared enemies would use this information to divide you."
Ruby leaned closer.
"So he created a choice."
The screen displayed a legal document.
Thomas Gallagher Descendant Trust.
"Dante can claim the shares only if Ruby voluntarily signs authorization."
Ruby exhaled.
Again.
A choice requiring both of them.
Another legal trap designed to force trust.
Catherine smiled sadly.
"If you two ever married, Patrick hoped you would eventually stop thinking in terms of Gallagher and Moretti."
Ruby began crying.
"He hoped you'd build something neither family could control."
The video ended.
Ruby sat in silence.
The door opened.
Dante entered.
She closed the laptop instinctively.
He noticed.
"Charles told you not to show me."
Ruby stared.
"How did you know?"
"He mumbled it while they wheeled him away."
Of course.
Dante sat opposite her.
"Are you going to?"
Ruby thought about every secret.
Every lie made in the name of protection.
She turned the laptop toward him.
"Yes."
Together, they watched.
Dante said nothing.
When Thomas Gallagher's photograph appeared, his face changed.
When Catherine explained the shares, he leaned back.
Finally, the video ended.
Ruby waited.
Dante laughed.
A quiet, exhausted laugh.
"What?"
He rubbed his face.
"I spent my entire life being told I was a Moretti."
Ruby smiled faintly.
"Apparently you're partly a Gallagher."
"Terrifying."
She laughed.
Then their expressions softened.
Ruby said, "You could control Gallagher Holdings."
"No."
"You didn't even think."
"I don't want it."
"What if I asked?"
"Why would you?"
"Because maybe I'm tired of running it alone."
Dante stared.
Ruby continued.
"Not controlling it."
"Then what?"
"Building it."
His expression shifted.
She took his hand.
"No more family empires."
Dante looked at their hands.
"What are you suggesting?"
"We clean both companies."
"That's ambitious."
"We're annoying people."
"Extremely."
"We expose every criminal route."
"Yes."
"We sell anything built on illegal money."
"Yes."
"We protect legitimate employees."
"Yes."
"And we create something new."
Dante smiled.
"What?"
Ruby shook her head.
"I don't know yet."
"Excellent business plan."
"Shut up."
He laughed.
She hadn't heard that sound in days.
Ruby looked at him.
Then her smile faded.
"Our marriage."
Dante's laughter stopped.
"The contract is gone."
"Yes."
"The arrangement is over."
"Yes."
She swallowed.
"So technically..."
"We're still legally married."
Ruby blinked.
Dante almost smiled.
"The ceremonial license was filed separately."
She stared.
"You mean I burned billions of dollars and we're still married?"
"Approximately."
"Dante."
"What?"
"Why didn't you tell me?"
"You seemed busy setting it on fire."
Ruby covered her face.
He laughed again.
Then he grew serious.
"If you want a divorce, I'll sign."
Ruby lowered her hands.
No manipulation.
No threat.
No empire.
Just a choice.
She remembered her words.
You were never mine.
Maybe that had been the problem.
People weren't possessions.
Love wasn't ownership.
She looked at him.
"I don't want the marriage we had."
His face fell slightly.
Ruby squeezed his hand.
"I want another one."
He stared.
"What does that mean?"
"It means no contracts."
"Agreed."
"No secret annexes."
"Agreed."
"No dead relatives appearing without warning."
Dante considered.
"I can't guarantee that one."
Ruby laughed.
"No protecting me by lying."
His expression sobered.
"Agreed."
"And I don't protect you by lying either."
"Agreed."
Ruby leaned closer.
"Then ask me again."
He frowned.
"Ask you what?"
"To marry you."
Dante stared.
"We're already married."
"You're ruining this."
"Sorry."
He stood.
Then unexpectedly lowered himself to one knee.
Ruby's mouth opened.
"Dante."
He took her hand.
"No ring."
"I have one."
"That's from the old marriage."
She slid it off.
Placed it on the table.
Dante smiled.
"Ruby Gallagher."
"Yes?"
"Will you marry me without any financial benefit, strategic protection, succession rights, corporate leverage, or hidden clauses whatsoever?"
Ruby pretended to consider.
"That's not a very romantic proposal."
"I'm improvising."
She smiled.
"Try again."
Dante's expression softened.
"Will you marry me because I love you?"
Ruby's eyes filled.
"Yes."
He stood and kissed her.
For the first time since their wedding, nothing stood between them.
No contract.
No father.
No empire.
No secret.
Then Ruby's phone rang.
She groaned.
Dante whispered against her forehead.
"Ignore it."
She looked.
Agent Sloan.
Ruby answered.
"What happened?"
Sloan's voice was tense.
"We have a problem."
Ruby closed her eyes.
"Naturally."
"What?"
"Father Michael escaped custody."
Dante's face hardened.
Ruby switched to speaker.
Sloan continued.
"He left behind a package addressed to you."
"What's inside?"
"A photograph."
"Of what?"
Sloan hesitated.
"Your wedding."
Ruby frowned.
"Our wedding?"
"Yes."
"What's wrong with it?"
"There is a man standing behind Dante."
Ruby looked at her husband.
Sloan continued.
"We identified him."
Dante's expression changed.
"Who?"
Sloan's answer came quietly.
"Vittorio Moretti."
May you like
Dante stopped breathing.
Because Vittorio had supposedly been dead for seventeen years.
