Chapter 10 - The Fallen Princess
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In the small sitting room adjacent to the library, Vanessa sat on an antique velvet sofa, staring blankly at the wall.
Her magnificent designer gown was torn at the hem, and her makeup was ruined by streaks of dried mascara.
On the coffee table before her lay the yellowed newspaper clipping from forty years ago, alongside the tiny baby photograph.
The heavy wooden door opened slowly, and Frank Moretti walked into the room, leaning lightly on his silver-tipped cane.
Vanessa didn't look up, too humiliated to meet the gaze of the powerful man whose life she had mocked.
"Are you going to throw me into the cellar with Donna?" Vanessa asked, her voice hollow and defeated.
Frank pulled a leather armchair across from her, sitting down heavily as he placed his hands over his cane.
"Donna is a criminal who spent forty years orchestrating murder and kidnapping," Frank said calmly.
"You, Vanessa, are a victim of her lies, even if you behaved like a monster tonight."
Vanessa flinched at the word, fresh tears spilling over her lashes and dripping onto her bare hands.
"I called her disgusting, Frank," Vanessa wept, her shoulders shaking with agonizing shame.
"I looked at my own mother—the woman who burned her flesh to save you—and I told the servants to throw her out."
"Donna taught me that poor people were insects who only existed to serve us."
"I believed every word she said because I thought she loved me."
Frank looked at the woman before him, seeing the undeniable tragedy of a child stolen and shaped into a cruel weapon.
"Blood gave you life, Vanessa, but the environment you were raised in poisoned your character," Frank told her.
"You cannot change the words you spoke tonight, nor can you erase thirty-eight years of arrogance in an hour."
"However, you have a choice right now that will define the rest of your existence."
Vanessa looked up, her red-rimmed eyes searching her father’s stern, weathered face for any sign of hope.
"What choice do I have?" she whispered.
"Antonio Bellini is expecting a phone call from Donna confirming that the poison was administered," Frank explained.
"He is currently at his heavily fortified estate in Lake Forest, surrounded by his personal army."
"He will not answer to anyone except Donna, or you."
Frank leaned forward, his voice carrying the full weight of a mafia patriarch demanding loyalty.
"You can help Luca take down the monsters who stole you and destroyed your mother's life," Frank said.
"Or you can walk out of this house with nothing, carrying the Bellini shame for the rest of your days."
Vanessa looked down at the photograph of the innocent newborn baby she had once been, before the greed consumed her.
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She wiped the tears from her face, her jaw setting with a sudden, fierce determination that mirrored Frank’s own steel.
"Tell me what I need to say to Antonio," Vanessa said firmly.
