Chapter 18
Luca hired a second engineer.
The board allowed it.
Not because he had veto power.
Because twenty million dollars justified verification.
Second estimate:
$16.8 million to $21.5 million.
Same conclusion.
The seawall needed major work.
Luca hired a third.
The chair finally asked:
“How many engineers until one says you can keep your answer?”
He glared.
Then laughed despite himself.
“Probably four.”
They stopped at two.
No manipulation.
No secret Arcwell ownership.
No consultant with a developer spouse.
Saltwater.
Age.
Steel corrosion.
Concrete.
Ordinary physical reality.
Luca hated it almost more than conspiracy.
A villain could be fought.
A seawall could only be repaired or paid around.
The board updated the hold analysis.
Belladonna remained profitable.
Operating performance had improved after restructuring.
Membership recovered.
Hotel rooms reopened.
Debt reduced.
But future capital requirements were large.
Seawall.
Roof replacement.
Gaming-floor ventilation.
Guest-room renovation.
Keeping the property meant spending heavily.
Still potentially worthwhile.
Not obviously.
Posy heard enough to ask Matteo:
“Did Honora know about the wall?”
“No.”
“You sure?”
“Yes.”
“How?”
“The reports are new.”
“What if she guessed?”
Matteo looked at her.
“Do you want it to be her?”
Posy became still.
“No.”
“Think.”
She did.
Maybe part of her wanted every problem at Belladonna to remain attached to Honora.
Then the world made sense.
Honora bad.
Casino victim.
Family survived.
A failing seawall did not fit.
Buildings aged without caring who had once been cruel on their stairs.
“That’s annoying.”
“Yes.”
Matteo continued privately with his own legal problems.
An unrelated organized-crime investigation reached one former associate.
News outlets mentioned his name.
Posy saw it online.
The original story had never pretended Matteo became lawful because he loved his daughter.
Now consequences returned from a completely different part of his life.
“Are you going to jail?”
Posy asked one night.
Matteo stopped eating.
“No charges against me right now.”
“That’s not answer.”
“No.”
He understood where she learned that.
“Could you?”
“Possible.”
She became pale.
He wanted to say no.
Promise.
Control the fear.
Instead:
“I have lawyers. There are investigations. I am not going to lie to you about certainty.”
Posy looked toward the table.
“What happens to me?”
There.
The only part he could actually improve.
He had already created legal guardianship arrangements.
Independent security.
School contacts.
Financial protections.
His sister-in-law and Posy’s other approved family supports had defined roles.
No criminal associate automatically became caregiver because Matteo trusted him.
He explained.
Posy listened.
“So if you disappear, Uncle Luca gets me?”
“No.”
She looked surprised.
“He’s family.”
“That is not enough.”
“Does he know?”
“Yes.”
“Is he mad?”
“Probably.”
Matteo had finally learned not to use family affection as automatic authority.
Posy asked:
“Could I pick him later?”
“Depending on your age and the legal situation, your wishes matter.”
She looked down.
Relationship and guardianship.
Different.
Good.
Meanwhile Luca searched for a way to keep Belladonna without forcing everyone else to share his sentiment.
He proposed a rights offering.
Existing shareholders could contribute new capital proportionally.
Use proceeds to repair seawall.
Reduce debt.
Reject sale.
Independent board reviewed.
Legitimate.
Institutional investors asked:
Expected return?
Luca provided models.
One investor declined.
The other would contribute only at a lower valuation than Luca wanted.
Luca offered to invest heavily himself.
The chair warned:
“If you fund most of it, you could rebuild control we intentionally reduced.”
Luca stared.
“That’s my money.”
“Yes.”
“I’m allowed to invest.”
“Yes.”
“And I’m not allowed to gain shares?”
“Not without considering governance implications.”
He hated it.
Again.
Good process often felt personally insulting.
The board designed a capped rights offering.
No holder could cross a specified control threshold without independent approval.
Luca accepted.
Then his bank reviewed his personal finances.
He could contribute.
But doing so would concentrate most of his liquid wealth back into the same casino he had nearly lost before.
His wife told him no.
Not legally.
As a spouse.
“You almost destroyed yourself saving it once.”
He looked at her.
“This is different.”
“Is it?”
“Yes.”
“Are the numbers different?”
“Yes.”
“Is the feeling?”
Silence.
Luca stopped.
He had learned Honora studied his pride.
That did not mean pride disappeared after exposure.
Now he had to recognize it without an enemy pointing at it.
He reduced his commitment.
The offering raised only twelve million dollars.
Not enough for the full hold plan.
A financing bank offered the remaining capital at expensive terms.
The independent board declined.
The property review continued.
Posy wrote Luca one sentence.
Dad said the seawall is real.
Luca replied:
Unfortunately.
Then:
I still hate Arcwell.
Posy smiled.
That was the first time their correspondence contained a joke.
Months later, she agreed to a second diner lunch.
This time Luca did not discuss the sale until she asked.
Progress.
“Are you losing?”
He stared.
“Excuse me?”
“The vote.”
“Possibly.”
“Does it feel like Honora again?”
Luca thought.
“No.”
“Why?”
“Because everyone knows what they’re deciding.”
Posy stopped.
There.
The difference.
Honora’s deal was not wrong because Luca might someday have sold the land.
It was wrong because she hid incentives and built leverage designed to narrow his choices.
A clean board could still decide:
sell.
And Luca could still hate it.
“What if they pick Arcwell?”
“I vote no.”
“And if they win?”
“I live with it.”
“That easy?”
“No.”
“Good.”
She ate fries.
Then asked:
“Can I see Belladonna before they decide?”
Luca froze.
He did not smile.
Did not celebrate.
“Are you sure?”
“No.”
Better answer.
Posy wanted to see the place she had refused for four years.
Not attend a party.
Not restore family pictures.
Just walk inside during daylight.
Her terms:
Casino closed to members during the visit.
No Honora-related staff.
No photographers.
Dr. Ames.
Matteo.
Luca only if Posy asked once they arrived.
And one final condition:
“I want the stairs exactly how they are.”
No ropes.
No flowers.
May you like
No pretending the landing had never existed.
👉 For the first time since she was shoved, Posy chose to return to Belladonna—not because she had forgiven Luca, but because she no longer wanted a staircase deciding where she was allowed to go.
