Chapter 5 - THE SHREDDER IN the STUDY
I sat in the uncomfortable hospital chair for two hours, holding a sleeping Lily in my arms.
The social worker had allowed me to stay after I showed her photos of Lily and me on my phone, proving our long-standing bond. But my mind was miles away, racing back to the estate.
Meanwhile, Adrian was kicking the doors of Dominic’s study open.
He later told me exactly what he found.
Vanessa was standing by his father’s desk. She wasn't crying. She wasn't packing. She was calmly feeding stacks of documents into a heavy-duty cross-cut shredder.
Leonard was gone.
"Turn it off," Adrian demanded, locking the heavy oak door behind him.
Vanessa jumped, dropping a file. She looked at him, her eyes wide, realizing he was back much sooner than she anticipated.
"Adrian," she gasped, stepping away from the machine. "I... I was just cleaning up your father’s outdated files. We can't have this Rossi mess lying around."
Adrian walked slowly across the Persian rug. He didn't yell. He didn't threaten. He simply reached over and pulled the shredder’s plug from the wall.
"Lily is safe," Adrian said quietly. "But David is in surgery. The doctors don't know if he will walk again."
Vanessa swallowed hard. "That is a tragedy, Adrian. Truly. But it solves our problem. If David doesn't make it, the Rossi line ends. The schedule is void. The company is yours free and clear."
Adrian looked at the woman he had bought a three-carat diamond for. He looked at her as if she were a stranger.
"You told David I wanted him dead," Adrian stated.
Vanessa’s facade cracked slightly. "I told him what he needed to hear to leave the property. He was a liability. He was sitting on a fifty-one percent claim to your empire. I was protecting you!"
"You ordered the black SUV to run him off the road," Adrian said, his voice dropping an octave.
"I did no such thing!" Vanessa spat, her voice shrill. "My father's security team handled the logistics. I just told them the liability was leaving the gates."
Adrian froze. "Your father."
Marcus Laurent.
Answer one: Vanessa wasn't acting alone. Her family, a massive corporate rival to the Moretti empire, had orchestrated the hit.
Open two: Why did Marcus Laurent care about Julian Rossi’s shares?
Adrian looked down at the desk. The red leather ledger was gone.
"Where is the ledger?" Adrian asked.
Vanessa lifted her chin, a cold, calculating smile touching her lips. "My father has it. Along with the original schedule. He took it from Leonard before he left."
"Leonard gave it to him?"
"Leonard didn't have a choice," Vanessa sneered. "My father has known about Julian Rossi for forty years, Adrian. Because my father was the one who helped Dominic frame Julian in the first place."
The words hung in the air, toxic and heavy.
"Your father and my father," Adrian repeated slowly.
"They made a deal in 1987," Vanessa explained, pacing behind the desk. "Julian Rossi was too moral, too clean. He wouldn't let Dominic expand into the gambling routes. So Dominic came to my father. They doctored the embezzlement evidence together. They sent Julian to prison, and they split the profits."
She walked toward Adrian, reaching out to touch his chest.
"We are supposed to merge these two families in three weeks, Adrian," she whispered. "My father has the ledger now. If you call off the wedding, he will expose Dominic's fraud to the feds. The government will seize everything. You will be left with nothing. Marry me, and we bury David Rossi’s claim forever."
Adrian looked down at her hand on his chest.
Slowly, he reached into his jacket pocket.
He pulled out a heavy, gold chain. Dangling from the end was a gold crucifix.
It was Dominic’s necklace. The one he never took off.
Adrian held it up. "My father gave this to me before he died. He told me it was a reminder that every sin requires penance."
He dropped the necklace onto the shredded paper on the floor.
"The wedding is off," Adrian said.
Vanessa’s eyes flared with rage. "You are a fool! My father will destroy you! He will destroy your father’s legacy!"
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"My father’s legacy is already destroyed," Adrian said, turning his back on her. "Pack your bags, Vanessa. If you are still on this property in one hour, I will have you arrested for conspiracy to commit murder."
He unlocked the door and walked out, leaving her screaming his name in the empty study.
