Chapter 14 - The Raldi Family's Final Betrayal
Vittorio smiled through reinforced glass.
"You came."
I sat opposite him.
Cassian stood behind me.
"Talk."
"Daniel died."
My fists tightened.
"Then why write that?"
"Daniel Marsh died. But before he died, he signed something."
Vittorio slid a photocopy through the slot.
Adoption papers.
My name.
Elena Grace Marsh.
My parents were listed as Daniel and Maryanne Marsh.
Adoptive parents.
I stopped breathing.
Cassian put a hand on my shoulder.
"Who were my biological parents?"
Vittorio leaned back.
"That's the last joke Daniel played on all of us."
"Answer me."
"Your mother was Maryanne's younger sister, Rebecca."
I remembered photographs.
Rebecca had died young.
My biological father wasn't named.
Vittorio enjoyed the pause too much.
Cassian leaned toward the glass.
"If you try to turn this into another game—"
"Your father was Adrian Bell."
Silence.
The wounded doctor.
The man whose DNA had been substituted into the paternity test.
My biological father.
Suddenly the genetic relationships that had confused the laboratories made sense.
Bellwether had tangled our families for decades.
Adrian had known who I was.
That was why he'd looked at me the way he had before being shot.
He survived his wound.
I visited him.
He didn't ask me to call him Dad.
I appreciated that.
"Daniel was your father," Adrian said. "I contributed biology. He did everything else."
"Why didn't you tell me?"
"Because I gave Maryanne and Daniel that choice when you were born."
For once, someone had respected a choice.
I asked about Rebecca.
He told me she had died from complications shortly after childbirth.
Daniel and Maryanne adopted me.
Loved me.
Protected me.
Nothing about that changed because of DNA.
"Did Vittorio know?"
"Recently."
That explained why I'd become important.
My biological connection to Adrian gave me potential claims over Bellwether.
My adoptive connection to Daniel gave me access to the Raldi succession evidence.
Marriage to Cassian joined all three lines.
Vittorio hadn't created every coincidence.
But once he saw them, he'd tried to control them.
And failed.
The federal case expanded.
Vittorio eventually accepted a deal that guaranteed he would spend the rest of his life in prison.
Luca cooperated.
Several doctors lost licenses.
Bellwether closed.
Ezra resigned from Cassian's organization.
Not because Cassian wanted him gone.
Because Ezra wanted to discover who he was without serving anyone.
Odette remained at the mansion.
She informed me this wasn't negotiable.
Camille got her job back.
So did I.
But I chose not to return full-time.
Pregnancy had become harder.
Nothing dangerous.
Just exhausting.
One evening, Cassian came home holding papers.
I saw the legal header.
My stomach tightened.
"What's that?"
"Our marriage contract."
He placed it on the dining table.
The same kind of table where I'd once saved his life.
The same room where strangers had tried to manipulate our future.
Cassian tore the contract in half.
Then again.
"You don't owe me three years."
I stared at him.
"Your mother's care is funded permanently through an independent trust. It isn't connected to me or this marriage. Your father's supposed debt is legally void. Your finances are yours."
"Cassian—"
"No conditions."
He removed his wedding ring.
My heart sank.
Then he placed it on the table.
"I married you because a contract said you had to stay."
He looked directly at me.
"I won't stay married to you that way."
My throat tightened.
"What are you saying?"
"I'm giving you the choice we should both have had."
He slid dissolution papers toward me.
Signed.
All they needed was my signature.
"If you want to leave, you leave free."
"And if I don't?"
For the first time, Cassian Raldi looked afraid.
"Then I ask you properly."
He reached into his pocket.
Before he could take anything out, pain ripped across my abdomen.
I doubled over.
Cassian caught me.
"Elena?"
Another pain.
Then warmth.
I looked down.
My water had broken.
Cassian went white.
"It's too early."
I grabbed his jacket.
"Call Camille."
He reached for his phone.
Then another contraction hit.
Harder.
Outside, tires screamed against the driveway.
Odette ran into the room.
"The ambulance is here."
Cassian lifted me.
We reached the front door.
Then Camille called.
Cassian answered.
Her first words stopped him cold.
"Don't take Elena to St. Brendan."
"Why?"
I heard Camille breathing fast.
"Someone accessed her medical chart ten minutes ago."
Cassian's face changed.
"Who?"
May you like
Camille said the name.
And the person was supposed to be locked inside a federal prison.
