Chapter 10 - She Chose Him
The photograph was dated twelve years earlier.
Robert was twenty-six at the time.
Still working under his father.
Bianca was twenty-two.
Robert had never met her.
But she had already been in the same room as his family.
Daniel uncovered more.
Bianca had worked briefly for the event-planning company hired for several Balboa Foundation galas.
Adrian Vale had been a financial consultant to Robert's father.
When Adrian was fired, Bianca disappeared from those events.
Years later, she married Ethan.
Then divorced.
Then—four months later—she appeared at a charity auction where Robert was speaking.
The night they "met by accident."
Robert remembered it perfectly.
Bianca had spilled champagne near him.
She'd laughed.
He'd offered his handkerchief.
She'd told him she had no idea who he was.
Now he knew better.
"She selected me."
Daniel didn't soften it.
"Probably."
Rosalie looked devastated.
"All those years..."
Robert wasn't thinking about himself.
He was thinking about Livia.
About pancakes.
Bedtime stories.
Birthday presents.
The woman had studied his daughter too.
Daniel turned another page.
"There's one complication."
Robert looked up.
"The money Bianca moved is traceable. The forged documents are strong evidence. The recording is strong."
"But?"
"We still don't know what Adrian has."
"What do you mean?"
"Bianca wouldn't involve someone like him unless he had something she needed."
The answer arrived that afternoon.
Adrian contacted Robert directly.
One email.
One attachment.
A photograph of an original signed document.
Robert recognized his father's signature.
Daniel stared at it.
"That can't be real."
The document appeared to be an older version of the Balboa trust agreement.
One with weaker protections.
If authentic, Adrian could argue that later amendments were invalid.
Robert read Adrian's message.
Your fiancée made mistakes. I don't. If you want the originals returned, we talk privately.
Rosalie whispered.
"He's blackmailing you."
Daniel shook his head.
"Not just that. He's trying to create uncertainty around the trust."
Robert's phone buzzed again.
Another message.
Come alone. Or your daughter's inheritance spends the next ten years in court.
Robert looked at Daniel.
"No."
Daniel raised an eyebrow.
"No?"
"I'm not going alone."
"Good."
"I'm not going at all."
Daniel almost smiled.
Robert continued.
"He wants me frightened enough to negotiate privately."
"What are you going to do?"
"Make him negotiate publicly."
Two days later, Robert filed an emergency civil action freezing every disputed transfer connected to Bianca and Adrian.
The filing forced the existence of Adrian's supposed trust document into court.
Now he would have to authenticate it.
Under oath.
With experts.
With records.
With consequences.
Adrian had expected a frightened father.
Instead, he got subpoenas.
Bianca responded within hours.
She returned to town with an attorney.
And for the first time, Robert saw her face on the courthouse steps.
No wedding dress.
No diamonds.
No smile.
She looked furious.
As cameras gathered, she accused Robert of abuse.
She claimed the hair-clipping incident had been exaggerated.
Then she made one final accusation.
"Robert Balboa is using his wealth to steal a child from her mother."
Reporters froze.
Robert, watching from his attorney's office, frowned.
"What child?"
Daniel stared at the screen.
Bianca looked directly into the cameras.
"My daughter."
Not Sophie.
She said another name.
"Livia."
May you like
Robert stopped breathing.
👉 Bianca's financial scheme was collapsing, so she made the most shocking claim yet—that Robert's six-year-old daughter somehow belonged to her.
