Chapter 8 - Vivian Knew the Name
Vivian did not know Isabella was definitely my sister before the gala.
She knew enough to be afraid.
The evidence came from her laptop.
Not stolen.
Produced through civil discovery after our engagement ended and after Isabella filed a claim related to the assault.
Three weeks before the gala, Vivian received the temporary staffing roster.
One name caught her attention.
ISABELLA TERESA ROMANO.
Vivian searched her father’s digitized personal archive.
Leonard DeMarco had died two years earlier.
His daughter inherited boxes of professional materials after his law practice closed.
Some belonged to clients and should have been transferred or destroyed according to retention rules.
A messy winding-down process left copies on an encrypted family drive.
There was a file:
MORETTI — ROMANO/T.
Inside:
A 1998 memorandum.
Teresa Romano has refused to execute the proposed related-party closing certificate. Antonio believes her concerns may be substantially accurate. Lorenzo insists disclosure will prejudice financing. Matter unresolved.
Then:
Personal issue between A.M. and T.R. may increase family exposure if pregnancy allegation later arises.
Pregnancy allegation.
Vivian stared at that phrase twenty-eight years later.
No proof there had been a pregnancy.
But then she looked at Isabella’s age.
Twenty-eight.
Mother:
Teresa Romano, according to a quick public-record search by a private due-diligence service Vivian already used for gala vendors.
That was the moment she became afraid.
Why?
Because Vivian was not merely marrying me.
Her family’s investment company, DeMarco Strategic, was negotiating a new advisory relationship with the Belladonna Heritage Trust.
The trust owned a minority interest in Moretti Hospitality and several legacy properties.
The proposed arrangement would generate perhaps $800,000 to $1.1 million annually in fees.
Meaningful.
Not dynasty-changing.
More important, the restructuring would formalize Vivian’s role inside family governance after marriage.
If Isabella proved to be Antonio’s biological descendant, the trust’s definition of qualified descendants might include her.
That could require notice.
Independent representation.
Potential consent for certain modifications.
At minimum:
Delay.
Questions.
Historical accounting.
And the old Leonard DeMarco memorandum might resurface.
Vivian did not want any of that before our wedding.
So she emailed the staffing agency.
“Please replace Isabella Romano if possible.”
Reason:
“Prior service concern.”
There was no prior service concern.
The agency replied:
No replacement available.
Vivian then asked her assistant:
“Make sure she stays out of private family areas.”
Again.
Not criminal.
Suspicious.
At the gala, Vivian recognized Isabella.
Saw the chain.
Could not see the pendant.
She became increasingly hostile.
Then Isabella spilled one drop of wine on Vivian’s shoe earlier in the evening.
Vivian told herself that justified correction.
The riding crop strike was not part of a twenty-eight-year conspiracy.
It was a current woman under pressure making an abusive choice against someone she considered socially disposable.
The fear underneath made the cruelty sharper.
May you like
That distinction mattered.
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