Chapter 20 - Their First Christmas Together
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Victor opened Elena’s envelope beneath the Christmas tree.
Inside were two tiny ornaments.
One rose.
One angel.
Each had a name engraved on the back.
ROSE.
GABRIEL.
Victor stared at them.
Elena had ordered them before the twins were born.
Before Marina’s scheme.
Before the hospital.
Before everything went wrong.
There was also a note.
Victor read it silently first.
Then again.
Finally, Rebecca asked—
“What does it say?”
Victor smiled through tears.
“Nothing dramatic.”
That somehow made it harder.
Elena had written:
Victor,
You think Christmas decorations should be expensive and tasteful.
You are wrong.
These are terrible.
Put them on the tree anyway.
One for each baby.
And if they fight over who gets the higher branch, tell them their mother said Rose wins because she kicks harder.
Love,
Elena.
Victor laughed.
A real laugh.
The kind he hadn’t known he needed.
Rose reached for the pink ornament.
Gabriel immediately reached for the other.
Victor lifted Rose first.
She hung hers crookedly on a low branch.
Then Gabriel.
His ornament fell off immediately.
He stared at it.
Then began laughing.
Everyone around the tree laughed with him.
Victor rehung it.
No ceremony.
No speeches.
No trust attorneys.
No discussions about firstborn rights.
Just two children decorating a tree their mother had imagined before they were born.
Later, when the house quieted, Victor remained beside the lights.
Rose slept against his chest.
Gabriel slept beside him with one hand gripping Victor’s sleeve.
Victor thought about the previous Christmas.
A bowl of dog food.
Marina’s contempt.
Her warning.
You lose your real heir.
She had been wrong in every way that mattered.
There was no “real heir.”
There were two children.
Equal.
Loved.
Protected.
Neither existed to carry a dynasty.
Neither owed the Bellini name anything.
The fortune would be there one day.
The trust would be there.
The companies would be there.
But Victor had changed the legal structure so no child would ever be forced to become a weapon in another adult’s fight for power.
When Rose and Gabriel were old enough, they could join the family businesses.
Or refuse.
They could keep the Bellini name.
Or change it.
They could live in the mansion.
Or leave.
Victor’s job was no longer to decide their future.
It was to make sure they had one.
He looked toward Elena’s photograph.
“You were right.”
Rose stirred.
Victor lowered his voice.
“Love got here first.”
Outside, snow fell across the estate.
Inside, the same ballroom where Marina had tried to humiliate an infant now echoed with children laughing, employees celebrating, and families sitting wherever they wanted.
No hierarchy.
No “real heirs.”
No one reminded of their place.
And beneath the Christmas tree hung two imperfect ornaments.
Side by side.
May you like
Exactly where they belonged.
If you were Victor, could you ever forgive someone who stole nine months of your child’s life—even after justice was served and your family was finally whole again?
