Chương 4 - THE WIFE THEY THOUGHT WOULD RUN
I had spent fifteen years sitting beside powerful men while they assumed I wasn't listening.
That was their mistake.
I knew where Bellandi companies held property.
Knew which attorneys had represented Adrian's grandfather.
Knew which accountant Adrian hated because the man refused to bend rules.
Gerald Price.
Seventy-three.
Retired.
Living outside Milwaukee.
I called him.
“Claire Bellandi.”
Long pause.
“Trouble?”
“Yes.”
“Adrian?”
“Adjacent.”
Gerald sighed.
“That family.”
Three hours later, I was driving north in Rebecca's ten-year-old Honda after finding the spare key.
Gerald met me at a diner.
He ordered pie.
I ordered answers.
“The Legacy Trust.”
His fork stopped.
“What about it?”
“What happens if I disappear?”
He studied me carefully.
Then:
“Why are you asking?”
I slid off my wedding ring finger—
bare.
He noticed.
“Ah.”
“No. Not only that.”
I explained enough.
Not the kiss details.
Gerald understood immediately.
“Ninety days.”
“Yes.”
“Emergency proxy.”
“Who appoints?”
“Three family council members.”
“Names.”
He hesitated.
“Claire.”
“Names.”
“Vincent Bellandi.”
I knew.
“Lucia Bellandi.”
Adrian's aunt.
“And?”
Gerald looked uncomfortable.
“Elena Russo.”
I stared.
“What?”
“Not personally.”
He clarified.
“Her family foundation holds one legacy seat from a settlement your grandfather negotiated decades ago.”
Russo.
Bellandi.
Old peace agreement.
So Matteo could control Elena's vote.
Vincent controlled another.
Only Lucia stood between them and temporary control.
Unless she was involved too.
“Why didn't Adrian know this?”
“He probably did once.”
Gerald shrugged.
“These documents were signed fifteen years ago.”
I remembered.
Our wedding month had been contracts, threats, police surveillance, two assassination attempts, and planning seating charts.
Estate paperwork barely registered.
“What can they do with proxy control?”
“Sell certain properties.”
“Which?”
Gerald listed them.
The third made my stomach drop.
Bellandi River Terminal.
The largest legitimate freight hub Adrian owned.
Adjacent land had recently skyrocketed in value due to a rail expansion.
Selling it below value to a shell company could transfer hundreds of millions.
“Can I stop it?”
“Yes.”
“How?”
“Appear.”
I almost laughed.
“That's the problem.”
“You can also file a notarized objection.”
“Remotely?”
“Yes.”
Gerald looked at me.
“But filing it reveals you're alive and active.”
Meaning whoever followed me would know.
I thought of Adrian.
Of Elena.
Of Vincent.
Then of the man in the gray coat.
“Do it.”
Gerald smiled slightly.
“You always were the dangerous one.”
“Adrian hates when people say that.”
“That's why I say it.”
We prepared the filing.
At 3:14 p.m., it entered the county system.
At 3:22, Vincent received an automated notice.
At 3:31, someone broke into Gerald's office.
We were already gone.
By then, I finally understood something.
They thought I would run emotionally.
Hide.
Cry.
Wait for Adrian to find me.
They had forgotten I spent fifteen years building his empire beside him.
I knew exactly where the bones were buried.
Not literally.
May you like
Usually.
And now I knew where to hit back.
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