Chapter 4 - THE WOMAN IN THE WHITE COAT
We moved Michael to one of my safest properties.
Grace refused to leave him.
I refused to let her.
Vanessa arrived the next morning.
She walked into the mansion wearing the same calm expression she had worn at the hospital.
Then she saw Michael.
She stopped.
The color drained from her face.
Michael immediately hid behind Grace.
Vanessa whispered:
“No.”
I watched her carefully.
“You know him.”
“No.”
“Don't lie.”
“I don't know that child.”
Michael peeked from behind Grace.
“She knows me.”
Vanessa turned toward him.
“You're mistaken.”
“She came to the room.”
Grace looked at me.
“What room?”
Michael continued.
“The room where Mommy cried.”
Vanessa's face changed.
I stepped closer.
“Who is Mommy?”
Michael looked at Vanessa.
“She is.”
Vanessa's mouth fell open.
“No.”
Grace looked confused.
“Michael, what do you mean?”
He pointed at Vanessa.
“She said she would take care of me.”
Vanessa suddenly slapped him.
I caught her wrist before her hand reached his face.
The room went silent.
“Never touch him.”
Her eyes widened.
“Dominic—”
I released her.
“You're done.”
She stared at me.
“You're choosing a stranger over your fiancée?”
“No.”
I looked at Michael.
“I'm choosing my family.”
Vanessa's face hardened.
“You don't know what you're doing.”
“Get out.”
She stepped closer.
“You'll regret this.”
“Leave.”
She turned.
At the door, she stopped.
“You think Grace is innocent?”
I said nothing.
“She isn't.”
The door slammed.
Grace looked at me.
“What was she talking about?”
“I don't know.”
But I had a suspicion.
That afternoon, Marco discovered something.
Grace's employment file had been altered.
Her nursing license was real.
Her credentials were real.
But the name Grace Bennett wasn't.
I found her in the library.
“You lied to me.”
She froze.
“What?”
“Your name.”
Her face went pale.
“I didn't.”
“Your records say Grace Bennett.”
“Yes.”
“But your birth certificate says Grace Bennett-Rossi.”
Silence.
My heart stopped.
“Rossi?”
She looked down.
“My mother changed my name.”
“Why?”
“She said the Rossi name would get me killed.”
I stared at her.
Rossi.
The rival family that had fought mine for decades.
“You're a Rossi?”
Grace nodded.
“My father was Anthony Rossi.”
I stepped back.
Anthony Rossi had been my father's greatest enemy.
He had disappeared twenty years ago.
“You knew who I was.”
“I knew who your family was.”
“Why did you come work for me?”
“I didn't know.”
“You're lying.”
Tears filled her eyes.
“I came because my mother was dying.”
“What does that have to do with me?”
“She told me to find Dominic Moretti.”
“Why?”
“She said you were the only person who could protect me.”
I stared at her.
“From whom?”
“My father's killer.”
“Who killed him?”
Grace swallowed.
“Your father.”
I felt as though the room had tilted.
“That isn't possible.”
“My mother had proof.”
“Where?”
Grace touched the silver ring on her finger.
“Here.”
She removed it.
Inside was a tiny compartment.
A memory chip.
“My father gave this to my mother before he died.”
I took it.
“What does it contain?”
“I don't know.”
“Then why haven't you opened it?”
“Because I was told it required two keys.”
“What keys?”
“One from the Rossi family.”
“And?”
She looked at me.
“One from the Moretti family.”
I understood.
“The black cross.”
She nodded.
I combined the cross with the chip.
The device unlocked.
A recording appeared.
An older man's face filled the screen.
Anthony Rossi.
My enemy.
Grace's father.
He looked directly into the camera.
“If you're watching this, my daughter is alive.”
Grace covered her mouth.
Anthony continued.
“The person who ordered my death is not Dominic Moretti.”
I looked at Grace.
“He's being used.”
The recording continued.
“The woman controlling both families is Vanessa Bellini.”
Grace whispered:
“No.”
Anthony looked terrified.
“She has been manipulating the Moretti and Rossi families for years.”
The recording ended.
I stared at the blank screen.
Vanessa.
The woman I had planned to marry.
The woman who had tried to remove Grace.
The woman who knew about Michael.
She wasn't protecting me.
She was building a cage around me.
Then Marco entered.
“Boss.”
“What?”
“We found the vehicle used in the explosion.”
“Where?”
“Outside a Bellini warehouse.”
May you like
I stood.
“Then we finally know where to look.”
