Chapter 8 - The Trap Vittorio Left Behind
Marco finally called.
Not Carmine.
Rebecca.
His attorney was on the line too.
He wanted “clarification.”
Rebecca gave him none.
Instead she requested preservation of every merger communication.
Marco’s attorney became cautious.
That was confirmation enough.
The clause was real.
Vittorio had anticipated coercion.
If Marco attempted to manipulate Leo’s trust through a spouse, affiliate, or related fiduciary, DeLuca Heritage Holdings could withdraw irrevocably from the merger negotiations.
Without its shares and land rights, the deal died.
Marco’s projected payout vanished.
Carmine smiled for the first time in days.
Not because money disappeared.
Because his father had seen the danger.
Then the board learned.
Emergency meeting.
Marco denied everything.
Helena’s statements complicated that.
Julian’s payment complicated it more.
The forged signature filings made it worse.
Then came the office-camera footage.
Marco entering Carmine’s study at 2:11 a.m.
He claimed Helena invited him.
She did.
That mattered.
Helena was no longer pretending she had nothing to do with it.
“I gave him the key.”
Carmine stared at her across Rebecca’s conference table.
“Why?”
“He said you’d changed the safe code.”
“That wasn’t your information to give.”
“I know.”
“Did you know he took the password device?”
“Yes.”
“Did you know he copied credentials?”
“No.”
“Did you ask?”
“No.”
Again.
Convenient ignorance.
Then the board’s independent review found Marco had been manipulating forecasts.
The merger wasn’t as beneficial to DeLuca Development as he claimed.
It disproportionately benefited a private investment vehicle.
One in which Marco held hidden interests.
His $20 million wasn’t just executive compensation.
It was partly indirect ownership profit.
Potential self-dealing.
Bigger than family drama.
Helena looked sick when she learned.
“He told me it would save the company.”
Carmine replied:
“He told you what made two million feel righteous.”
She had no answer.
Julian was suspended by Beaumont’s board.
His firm faced investigation.
Marco was removed pending review.
The merger was terminated.
But Leo’s trust still faced the paternity challenge.
Why continue?
Delay.
If Marco could keep trust voting rights frozen long enough, maybe he could regain leverage.
Then Rebecca found the person behind the fake nurse declaration.
A document-preparation consultant named Elaine Porter.
Paid through a shell company linked to Julian.
She admitted she assembled the declaration from supplied information.
“Did the nurse ever sign it?”
“No.”
“Who gave you the signature image?”
“Mr. Beaumont’s office.”
There it was.
Forgery chain.
The paternity attack was collapsing.
Carmine voluntarily agreed to DNA confirmation anyway.
Not because he owed Marco proof.
Because he wanted the record closed forever.
Result:
99.99% probability.
Leo was his biological son.
Helena cried when Carmine showed her.
“I knew.”
“Then why did you help people attack it?”
“I thought it was paperwork.”
“No.”
His voice stayed quiet.
“You thought it wasn’t your problem.”
That was more accurate.
Then the trustee issued a preliminary determination.
Leo’s beneficiary status stood.
His trust remained intact.
Marco’s challenge failed.
Helena’s proposed control failed.
Beaumont failed.
The car in the garage remained owned by DeLuca Heritage Holdings.
Not Helena.
She asked Carmine:
“So what happens to me?”
That question revealed she still thought the story was about her.
Carmine answered:
“I’m filing for divorce.”
She went white.
“No.”
“Yes.”
“You can’t throw away our marriage because I made mistakes.”
“I’m ending it because you used my son as leverage.”
“I never wanted him hurt.”
“You withheld food.”
“That was one moment.”
“You terrified him.”
“I was angry.”
“You helped attack his trust.”
“I didn’t understand.”
“You gave Marco my credentials.”
“I was scared.”
“Exactly.”
Carmine leaned forward.
“Every time your choices hurt someone else, you rename them.”
Mistake.
Anger.
Fear.
Confusion.
Never responsibility.
Helena started crying.
He did not soften.
Then Leo’s nanny entered the hallway carrying a blue blanket.
Sofia’s blanket.
Carmine looked at it.
Then at Helena.
“What did you do with this last week?”
Her face changed.
“How do you know?”
He didn’t.
Not until she reacted.
“What did you do?”
She whispered:
“I gave it to Julian.”
Carmine froze.
“Why?”
“He said he needed something with Leo’s DNA.”
Silence.
The DNA challenge.
They hadn’t only forged declarations.
They had tried to obtain a private biological sample from Leo without Carmine’s consent.
From his blanket.
Rebecca’s face hardened.
“Where is it now?”
May you like
Helena started shaking.
“Julian has it.”
