Chapter 6 - echoes of thirty years
Dominic stared at the glowing monitor screen in absolute silence.
The false answer had collapsed in an instant. Leo hadn't been playing Moretti to save Dominic—Leo had been coordinating directly with Vivienne Vale while she sat inside Dominic's own holding cell.
Dominic disconnected the satellite phone and set it on his desk. He walked over to his wall safe behind the oil painting of the Bellacorte estate, entered his combination, and opened the iron door.
He pulled out an old leather journal that had belonged to his father, Carmine Bellacorte, written thirty years ago shortly before his death.
Dominic flipped through the yellowed pages under his desk lamp, stopping at an entry dated October 14, 1996—the night Leo was born.
Dominic read his father's tight, precise cursive handwriting:
The child born tonight in Saint Jude's Hospital carries my name, but he does not carry my blood. I have accepted him to preserve the family honor, but the master charter of the Bellacorte dynasty shall never pass to Leo. He must never know the truth of his origin.
Dominic’s breath caught in his chest. He read the paragraph three times to ensure he hadn't misread a single word.
Leo was not his biological brother. He was an adopted child, raised in luxury, completely unaware that his claim to the Bellacorte dynasty was legally void under the syndicate charter.
A subtle detail from Chapter 2 suddenly clicked in Dominic’s mind.
When Leo had pointed his gun at Marcus in the banquet hall, Marcus hadn't looked terrified of dying—he had looked utterly betrayed. Marcus hadn't been framing Dominic; Marcus and Vivienne had been working for Leo to force Dominic into surrendering his charter.
Dominic closed the journal with a soft thud.
His phone buzzed on the desk. It was Mateo, his chief of security.
"Boss," Mateo said, his voice tight with urgency over the speaker. "We have a problem in the lower holding wing. The guard on duty just reported a power outage in cell block three."
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"Did Marcus or Vivienne break out?" Dominic asked, standing up immediately.
"No, Boss," Mateo replied nervously. "Someone bypassed the iron locks from the outside five minutes ago. Vivienne Vale is gone—and she left a sealed envelope on Marcus's bed addressed to you."
