THE EMPTY SEAT AT THE TABLE

Vivienne stepped between us, trying to maintain control. "Luca, don't be dramatic. Whatever that is, give it to my father. You’re emotional right now."

"The engagement is over, Vivienne," I said. The words slipped out easily, bringing a sudden, profound relief.

She stared at me, her mouth open in shock. "You can't do that. My family owns forty percent of your board!"

"Then we’ll see what the board thinks of embezzlement," I said, turning my back on them and getting into Arthur’s car. "Drive, Arthur."

We left them standing in the driveway.

The next morning, at exactly 8:00 AM, I stood in the sterile, fluorescent-lit vault of the downtown depository. The bank manager left me alone with a long metal drawer—Box 402.

My hands shook as I slid the brass key into the lock. It turned with a heavy click.

Inside the box lay a stack of yellowing documents and a worn leather journal.

I pulled out the first document. It was a deed of incorporation for my company, Luca Enterprises. But it wasn't the version filed with the state. This was the original draft, dated two weeks before the fire.

My eyes scanned the signatures at the bottom.

Luca Rossi, Co-Founder.Peter Bennett, Co-Founder.

Attached was a handwritten contract. Peter hadn't just been my father’s mechanic. He had been the one who designed the original engine blueprints that launched my entire manufacturing empire. He was my silent partner. We had planned to go public together.

I flipped open my father’s leather journal. The entries were meticulously dated.

October 12th: Richard Vanguard came by the shop today. Offered to buy Peter’s patents. Peter refused. Said he was building it with Luca.

October 14th: The fire. Richard was the only one near the chemical drums before it started.

My stomach violently rebelled.

Richard hadn't just lied about me being in the building. He had started the fire. He wanted the patents. With Peter dead, Richard stepped in, offered me capital in my grief, and became my primary investor, burying Peter’s involvement forever.

He murdered my best friend to steal our company.

And my father knew.

I read the final entry, dated three days before my father died.

I don't have enough proof for the police. But I have the original patents, signed by Peter. And I have Richard’s early ledgers showing he stripped the Bennett accounts. Luca has to see this. But I have to make sure he’s ready. He has to care about them first. He has to sit in the chair.

My father hadn't hated me. He had been terrified of me. Terrified that I had become so much like Richard that I wouldn't care about the truth.

He was protecting Leo’s inheritance until he was sure I wouldn't steal it too.

I gathered the papers, placed them carefully into the green lunchbox, and walked out of the vault.

When I reached the lobby, my phone rang. It was my executive assistant.

"Mr. Rossi," she said, her voice panicked. "You need to get to the office. Now."

"What's wrong?"

"Richard Vanguard just called an emergency board meeting. They are initiating a hostile takeover. They’re voting to remove you as CEO on the grounds of mental instability."