Chapter 8
Helena admitted there had been another codicil.
Not immediately.
Roman had to wait through almost a minute of silence.
Then her shoulders dropped.
“Your father was dying.”
“That isn't an answer.”
“He was frightened.”
“Of what?”
“You.”
Roman’s face changed.
Helena continued.
Vincent believed Roman had become too aggressive.
Too powerful.
Too willing to replace traditional family alliances with loyalty to himself.
He planned to divide control.
Roman would retain legitimate businesses.
Adrian’s father would oversee old family operations.
Helena would hold tie-breaking authority for ten years.
Roman stared at her.
“You destroyed it.”
Helena’s fingers trembled.
“I protected you.”
“From my father?”
“From a civil war.”
Adrian laughed bitterly.
“You protected your favorite son.”
Helena looked at him.
Roman noticed the hatred between them.
Old.
Deep.
This betrayal did not begin seven weeks ago.
Adrian’s father died believing Roman cheated him out of succession.
Adrian grew up with that story.
Roman had never known.
Helena had spent eleven years keeping both men in the same organization while hiding the reason resentment never disappeared.
Roman’s jaw tightened.
“Rachel found the codicil.”
“Yes.”
Helena looked exhausted now.
“She found a scanned copy in Daniel Mercer’s archive.”
Adrian picked up the story.
Rachel brought it to Veronica first.
Veronica denied knowing anything.
Then Rachel approached Helena.
Helena panicked.
If the codicil surfaced, Roman’s legitimacy could fracture.
Adrian learned soon after.
Then everything accelerated.
Roman’s trip to Sicily created the opportunity.
Adrian wanted proof.
Helena wanted the codicil destroyed.
Veronica wanted her debt hidden.
Rachel wanted money.
Different motives.
One secret.
Roman looked at Sophie’s maid apron still lying on a chair nearby.
“And my daughter?”
Nobody answered.
His gaze became lethal.
“What did Sophie have to do with my father’s codicil?”
Helena finally looked at him.
“Nothing.”
Roman knew immediately.
Lie.
He waited.
Her breathing faltered.
Then Adrian said:
“She was leverage.”
Roman turned.
Adrian’s expression had gone flat.
“Helena thought if Sophie was removed from the estate, you would come home the moment you learned.”
Roman’s eyes narrowed.
“But I was supposedly dead.”
Adrian gave a cold smile.
May you like
“Exactly.”
Helena never believed Roman was dead either.
