Chapter 9 - The Warehouse by the River
The warehouse was empty when they arrived.
Too empty.
Dante knew immediately.
“Stay behind me.”
Emma held Sophia against her chest.
The baby slept peacefully.
Derek appeared from the shadows.
His face was bruised.
“I didn't bring them here.”
Dante lowered his weapon.
“Where is Victor?”
Derek shook his head.
“He never came.”
A door slammed.
Lights turned on.
Screens appeared across the walls.
Victor's face appeared on every monitor.
“You finally came.”
Dante stared.
Victor smiled.
“You've spent three years believing Emma left you.”
“You manipulated her.”
“I protected her.”
Emma stepped forward.
“From what?”
“From you.”
Victor revealed the truth.
Dante's father had planned to kill Victor years ago.
Victor survived.
He spent years building a counterattack.
But when he learned Dante loved Emma, he realized she was the one person Dante would never sacrifice.
So Victor created the lie.
He wanted Dante emotionally isolated.
Then he could control the organization through fear.
“But you failed,” Dante said.
Victor laughed.
“No.”
The screens changed.
Photographs of Sophia appeared.
Then one of Emma.
Then Dante.
“We succeeded the moment you married her.”
Emma froze.
“What?”
Victor explained that the DNA test had been leaked intentionally.
He wanted Dante to publicly acknowledge Sophia.
Because the moment Dante did, the child became the legal heir to the Salvatore empire.
And that made Sophia the most valuable target in the city.
Dante realized the trap.
Victor didn't want Sophia dead.
He wanted her inheritance.
But there was one flaw.
Dante smiled.
Victor asked:
“What?”
“You forgot something.”
Dante held up the unsigned birth certificate.
May you like
“Sophia doesn't inherit anything until I say so.”
Victor's smile disappeared.
