Chapter 4 - Seventy-Two Million Dollars
The paper was a financial summary.
Robert recognized it immediately.
A private valuation prepared for his family's holding company.
Estimated trust value:
$72.4 million.
Livia's name appeared near the bottom.
Sole remainder beneficiary.
Bianca said nothing.
Robert looked at her.
"Why did you have this?"
"I didn't."
Rosalie stepped forward.
"It was torn in half beneath her vanity."
Bianca laughed.
"Your mother goes through my trash now?"
Robert ignored her.
Beside the valuation were handwritten notes.
Not much.
Only numbers.
But one line had been circled.
Spousal control — if co-trustee amendment executed.
Robert felt sick.
"You were calculating what you could control."
Bianca shook her head.
"That's absurd."
"Then explain it."
"It was financial planning."
"For my daughter's inheritance?"
"For our marriage!"
Her voice echoed through the room.
Downstairs, the music had stopped.
Bianca realized it.
Her face tightened.
"Do you understand what you've just done to me?"
Robert almost laughed.
"To you?"
"There are two hundred people downstairs."
"My daughter is missing half her hair."
"It grows back!"
Livia heard her from the sitting room.
A small sob carried through the doorway.
Robert's face changed instantly.
Bianca saw it and lowered her voice.
"Robert, listen to me."
"No."
"You are emotional."
"My six-year-old daughter screamed for me while you held clippers to her head."
"Because she destroyed something that belonged to my grandmother."
Rosalie frowned.
"What did she destroy?"
Bianca pointed toward the vanity.
"My antique bridal comb."
Robert looked.
A silver comb lay beside the mirror.
Perfectly intact.
Bianca froze.
Rosalie walked over and picked it up.
"This?"
Bianca opened her mouth.
Nothing came out.
Robert's voice dropped.
"You shaved my child's head over something she didn't even break?"
Bianca's expression hardened.
"She touched it."
And there it was.
Not remorse.
Not confusion.
Ownership.
Control.
Robert folded the documents.
"You're leaving."
Bianca laughed once.
"No, Robert."
"This is my house."
"Actually..."
She reached into a drawer.
"...that depends on what you've signed."
Robert stared at her.
Bianca removed a folder.
She placed it on the vanity.
Robert recognized his signature.
It was real this time.
Three weeks earlier, Bianca had given him a stack of documents while he was leaving for a conference.
Insurance renewals.
Vendor contracts.
Wedding venue authorizations.
At least that was what she'd told him.
Bianca tapped one page.
Robert read.
A temporary management authorization giving Bianca limited authority over several household and estate accounts during the wedding period.
Not ownership.
But access.
Enough access to cause damage.
"How much did you move?"
Bianca didn't answer.
Robert reached for his phone.
She grabbed the folder.
"What are you doing?"
"Freezing every account you can touch."
For the first time that day, Bianca looked genuinely afraid.
"Robert, don't."
He dialed his chief financial officer.
Bianca lunged for the phone.
Robert stepped back.
And from the hallway came another voice.
"Mr. Balboa?"
A man in a gray suit stood outside the room.
Robert recognized him as one of the wedding guests.
But Rosalie recognized him first.
Her eyes widened.
"You."
The man held up a leather portfolio.
"I'm Daniel Mercer. I represent the Balboa Family Trust."
Bianca's face drained of color.
Daniel looked directly at Robert.
"I'm afraid your fiancée contacted me yesterday."
Robert glanced at Bianca.
"About what?"
Daniel opened the portfolio.
May you like
"About transferring control of your daughter's inheritance after today's ceremony."
👉 Bianca had claimed she was only planning for marriage—but Robert was about to learn she had already tried to reach Livia's money before becoming his wife.
