Chapter 15 - The Cold Wall Between Us
When Vincent walked into the grand study an hour later, I was sitting behind his desk with the open ledger between my hands.
He stopped dead in his tracks the moment he saw the faded yellow paper under the lamp.
The heavy silence that filled the space between us was louder than gunfire.
"How long have you known?" I asked, my voice terrifyingly calm, devoid of the tears burning behind my eyes.
Vincent closed the study door, his face pale, his broad shoulders dropping with the weight of an unpayable debt.
"Since the night I found you outside the Grand Imperial," he admitted quietly.
"You knew my bloodline," I whispered, the pain ripping through my chest like a dull blade.
"You knew who my parents were. All those months I spent feeling grateful to you... feeling like you were my savior..."
"I am your husband, Elena!" Vincent said, stepping forward, his voice cracking with raw emotion.
"I took you off that street because my father’s sins haunted my conscience every waking hour! But what started as atonement became love. You know that. Look me in the eye and tell me you don't know that!"
"You lied by omission, Vincent," I said, rising to face him, the diamond wedding ring heavy on my left hand.
"Julian isn't just your cousin. He is my brother."
"He is a monster, Elena!" Vincent shouted, slamming his fist onto the edge of the bookcase.
"Julian doesn't care about family! He spent the last ten years running cartel routes and human trafficking rings through Eastern Europe! He doesn't want you as a sister. He wants to use your blood claim to seize the Moretti estate and wipe us out!"
"And you kept me in the dark!" I cried, the tears finally breaking past my composure.
"You let me believe I was a nobody with no past, while you guarded the keys to my entire identity!"
"Because I wanted to protect you from this poison!" Vincent stepped in, grabbing both my arms, his dark eyes pleading.
"If the syndicate knew Domenico Valenti's daughter was alive, three rival families would have put a bounty on your head before breakfast! I made you a Moretti to give you absolute immunity."
I looked at his desperate, handsome face, feeling the agonizing conflict between love and betrayal.
He had shielded me, yes, but he had also kept me caged in ignorance.
Before I could answer, Marco’s voice crackled over the intercom on the desk.
"Boss. The motorcade for the Palmer House is lined up. Julian's people just sent a courier with an RSVP verification code."
I wiped the wetness from my cheeks, pulling myself out of Vincent's grasp.
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"We will finish this conversation later, Mr. Moretti," I said with cold dignity.
"Right now, we have a family reunion to attend."
