Chapter 4 – THE CHILD’S DRAWING IN THE COAT

The Chicago River was pitch black beneath the rusted arches of the St. Jude bridge. The broken clock tower loomed against the night sky like a gravestone.

I walked down the concrete embankment alone, the heavy Kevlar-lined coat protecting my shivering body.

Every shadow felt like a sniper. Every gust of wind sounded like a gunshot.

“Keep walking, Maggie.”

Vanessa’s voice echoed from the darkness under the bridge.

She stepped out from behind a concrete pillar. She had changed out of her emerald gown into tactical black clothing. She held a suppressed pistol aimed directly at my chest.

Behind her, two massive mercenaries held my mother.

Evelyn Ellis was bruised, her lip bleeding, but her eyes were defiant.

“Maggie, run!” my mother screamed. “Don’t give her anything!”

One of the mercenaries backhanded her. She fell to her knees.

“Stop it!” I shrieked, lunging forward.

Vanessa pointed her gun at my mother’s head. “Stop right there, or she dies right now.”

I froze, breathing heavily.

“Did you bring the papers?” Vanessa demanded.

I reached into the pocket of the heavy coat and pulled out the manila envelope. I held it up.

“I have them,” I said, forcing my voice to stop shaking. “Let her go.”

“Toss them over,” Vanessa ordered.

I threw the envelope onto the dirt between us.

Vanessa nodded to one of the mercenaries. He stepped forward, picked up the envelope, and opened it. He scanned the documents with a flashlight and nodded. “They’re the originals.”

Vanessa smiled, a cruel, triumphant smirk.

“Good,” she said. “Now, onto the second part of our deal.”

She reached into her jacket and pulled out a fresh sheet of paper and a pen. She tossed them onto the ground at my feet.

“Sign the confession,” Vanessa said. “Admit you forged the birth certificate to steal my inheritance.”

“Answer One, Open Two,” I quoted softly, staring at her.

Vanessa frowned. “What did you say?”

“If you’re so confident in your birthright, Vanessa,” I said, standing tall, “why are you so terrified of a maid?”

“I am not terrified of you!” Vanessa spat.

“Then why did you hire me?” I pressed. “If my father is Dante Moretti, I have no claim to the Bellini empire. Richard’s trust fund belongs to you. So why did you steal it?”

Vanessa’s face twisted in rage.

“Because Richard isn’t my father either!” she screamed, the truth finally boiling over. “My mother had an affair! I have no Bellini blood! You are the only one with a claim to the trust because Dante Moretti and Richard Bellini made a blood pact!”

The revelation hit me like a freight train.

Vanessa was a complete fraud. She wasn’t a Bellini. She wasn’t a Moretti. She was a desperate woman holding onto an empire that belonged entirely to me.

“Sign the paper,” Vanessa snapped, cocking the gun. “Or watch your mother die.”

I looked down at the pen.

I crouched down, keeping one hand inside the pocket of Luca’s coat.

“Okay,” I whispered. “I’ll sign it.”

I picked up the pen.

But I didn’t write my name.

Instead, I pulled the item Luca had placed inside the coat pocket before I left the car.

It wasn’t a gun. It was a blinding, military-grade strobe flashbang.

I squeezed the trigger and threw it directly at Vanessa’s feet.

“Close your eyes, Mom!” I screamed.

The flashbang detonated with a deafening crack, unleashing a blinding burst of white light that turned the night into pure day.

Vanessa and her mercenaries shrieked, dropping their weapons and clutching their burning eyes.

From the shadows above the bridge, Luca Moretti descended like a nightmare.

He didn’t come alone. Ten of his elite guards dropped from the steel girders, moving with terrifying precision.

Before the mercenaries could recover their vision, Luca’s men had them pinned to the ground with rifles pressed to the back of their heads.

I ran to my mother, throwing my arms around her and pulling her into a desperate embrace.

“I’ve got you, Mom,” I sobbed. “I’ve got you.”

Luca walked over to Vanessa. She was writhing on the dirt, rubbing her eyes.

He reached down and grabbed her by the hair, pulling her to her knees.

“You broke the rules, Vanessa,” Luca growled, his voice vibrating with absolute menace. “You touched my family.”

Vanessa blinked rapidly, her vision slowly returning. She looked at the army of men surrounding her. She looked at me, holding my mother.

And then, she started to laugh.

It was a broken, hysterical sound.

“You think you won?” Vanessa choked out, blood dripping from her nose. “You think you saved her?”

She pointed a shaking finger at my mother.

“Ask Evelyn why she let Richard take the blame,” Vanessa sneered. “Ask her why she hid you from Dante Moretti.”

Luca looked at my mother. His eyes narrowed.

“What is she talking about?” Luca demanded.

My mother looked down at the dirt. She was trembling.

She reached into her blouse and pulled out a heavy gold chain. Hanging from it was a thick gold bracelet encrusted with rubies.

Luca’s face went completely pale.

He recognized it.

“Mom?” I whispered. “What is that?”

My mother looked at Luca, tears streaming down her face.

“It’s the matriarch’s bracelet,” Evelyn wept. “Dante gave it to me twenty-six years ago… because I didn’t just have an affair with him.”

She looked at me, her voice breaking.

“I was his lawful wife.”

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