Chapter 1
Rocco did not hit Seraphine again.
Everyone expected him to.
Seraphine expected it most.
Instead, he turned toward the terrified guests.
“Call 911.”
No one moved.
Rocco’s voice dropped.
“Now.”
A cousin fumbled for his phone.
Adeline was pale, shaking, and clutching her belly with both hands.
“I’m okay,” she whispered.
Rocco looked at her.
“Don’t do that.”
“Do what?”
“Protect everyone from how bad it is.”
Paramedics arrived within minutes.
Adeline had bruising, a sprained wrist, and contractions from shock, but the baby’s heartbeat was strong.
She was taken to the hospital for monitoring.
Police arrived next.
The grand staircase had cameras.
So did the banquet room.
The footage showed Seraphine blocking Adeline.
The shove.
Adeline falling.
Rocco catching her.
Then Rocco walking back up after Adeline was safe and slapping Seraphine.
Detective Mara Ellison watched the clip once.
Then looked at Rocco.
“You understand that last part is separate?”
Rocco nodded.
“I hit her.”
“After your wife was no longer falling.”
“Yes.”
His attorney winced.
Seraphine sat with ice against her cheek and said nothing until her lawyer arrived.
Then she claimed Adeline had stumbled.
The video contradicted that.
She claimed Rocco attacked her because she knew “family secrets.”
The video did not contradict that.
Mara asked Adeline:
“What inheritance?”
Adeline breathed through another contraction.
“The Bellandi Legacy Trust.”
“What does the child inherit?”
Adeline looked toward Rocco.
“Everything they’ve been fighting over.”
Rocco corrected her quietly.
“Not everything.”
Then he looked toward the hallway where Seraphine’s lawyer was speaking with officers.
“Control.”
That became the first real question.
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If the will gave Seraphine nothing after harming Adeline or the unborn child, why had she done it in front of witnesses?
And why had she told Rocco the baby’s birth would cost him everything too?
