Chapter 6
Emma stared at Mark.
“Our company is collapsing?”
Mark nodded.
For years Richard Bell presented stability.
Property.
Investments.
Private equity.
Luxury hotels.
Nothing flashy.
Nothing desperate.
Behind the image, Bell Holdings had been damaged by two failed developments and heavy refinancing.
Interest costs rose.
A lender called one loan early.
Another threatened to.
Emma looked toward Vittorio.
“What does that have to do with my son?”
Mark rubbed both hands together.
“Dad thought Ethan’s death changed the balance.”
Vittorio’s eyes narrowed.
“What balance?”
“Ethan handled half the DeLuca-Bell logistics partnership.”
Vittorio already knew.
Ethan had modernized legitimate freight operations shared by both families.
With him dead, contracts could be renegotiated.
Richard feared Vittorio would absorb the profitable routes and leave Bell Holdings exposed.
Emma whispered:
“So he wanted my baby as leverage.”
Mark’s voice became defensive.
“At first Dad wanted guarantees.”
“What guarantees?”
“That Bell employees kept their contracts.”
“That the joint routes remained split.”
“That you and the children spent time with us.”
Emma looked at him.
“You're saying that like it makes taking a newborn reasonable.”
Mark closed his eyes.
“No.”
For the first time that evening, he sounded ashamed.
“It doesn't.”
Vittorio watched him.
“Then why did you block the kitchen door?”
Mark’s hands tightened.
“Because I thought Dad had an agreement with Ethan.”
“You knew about the missing paragraph?”
“No.”
His answer came immediately.
Vittorio believed him.
Mark looked at Emma.
“Dad showed me the first page.”
“The redacted version.”
“Yes.”
“And you never asked why Ethan would protect only one twin?”
Mark said nothing.
Emma’s eyes filled.
“You didn't ask because it benefited you too.”
He flinched.
There.
Another motive.
Bell Holdings needed stability.
Mark was next in line to run it.
If the company failed after Richard retired, Mark became the man who lost what his father built.
He had spent years being compared to Ethan.
Ethan’s businesses were growing.
Mark’s were not.
Resentment found a moral disguise.
Protection of the boy.
Respecting Ethan.
Saving employees.
All partly true.
All useful.
Mark whispered:
“I told myself we were keeping Dad from losing everything.”
Emma looked toward the newborns.
“And you were willing to split my children for it.”
He could not answer.
Then Vittorio’s attorney entered.
“We found the source of the custody filing.”
Richard’s petition had been prepared two days before Ethan died.
Emma’s face went completely still.
Mark looked shocked.
“What?”
The attorney showed the date.
Draft created:
SIX DAYS AGO.
May you like
Ethan died four days ago.
Richard had begun preparing to claim the boy while Ethan was still alive.
