The Godfather’s Forsaken Rose Chapter 04
After handling my departure paperwork, I went home.
The moment I walked through the door, I ran into my stepmother, Elena Voss, dressed and made up as perfectly as ever.
As soon as she saw me, she began lecturing me in that familiar tone.
“Bella, you still remember this is your home? How many nights have you spent outside? Is this any way for a young woman to behave?”
I did not even look at her.
I picked up a tall celadon vase by the entrance and smashed it to the floor.
The crash echoed through the foyer. Shards flew everywhere.
Elena screamed and stumbled back.
I looked at her calmly, my face bright with contempt.
“Who do you think you are? A mistress who destroyed someone else’s family has no right to lecture the daughter of the wife.”
“Elena Voss, remember this. As long as I am still in this house, you will never be able to stand tall here.”
My words were sharp enough to cut. Elena’s face went pale with anger, and she trembled from head to toe.
“Isabella!” Victor Moretti stormed out of his study and rushed to support Elena. He glared at me. “What madness are you starting now? You come home and turn the place upside down. Can you behave for once?”
I looked at my father protecting that woman, and the last warmth in my heart turned to ice.
I laughed coldly.
“I’m turning the place upside down?”
“Fine. Give me my share of the family assets now, and I’ll leave the United States. You’ll never have to see me again.”
Victor froze. Then false concern spread across his face.
“What nonsense. Leave the country? What would a girl like you do out there? Stay here. This will always be your home. We’re family.”
“Family?” I laughed as if I had heard the funniest joke in the world. “Stop acting, Victor. You, Elena, and Sophia are a family. My mother is dead, so I don’t have one.”
“Name your price. I want what belongs to me.”
Victor’s expression darkened. After a long silence, he said in a falsely gentle voice, “I know you have resentment toward this family. How about this? I’ll give you five million dollars first. Go travel. Clear your head.”
“Five million?”
I sneered.
“Victor, everything you have came from my grandfather’s money. From the assets my mother brought into this family. Even your life was bought with my mother’s life.”
“You use my mother’s money to support your mistress and illegitimate daughter. You live in the house my mother paid for. And now you want to send her biological daughter away with five million?”
“Where is your shame?”
Victor’s sore spot had been struck. His anger broke through.
“You. How much do you want? Say it.”
I had come prepared. I pulled a document from my bag and calmly listed the numbers, along with the casino and dock shares that were owed to me.
“Are you insane?” Victor exploded. “You’re trying to hollow out half the Moretti family.”
I took my time walking to the window. Looking down at the garden, I said lightly, “You can refuse.”
“But I planted a bomb outside the Long Island house.”
“Either you sign the agreement and pay me.”
“Or we all die here today.”
“Choose.”
Victor’s pupils contracted. He pointed at me with a trembling finger.
“You… you’re insane.”
“Yes,” I said calmly, my eyes hard. “You made me that way.”
Victor’s face turned ashen. His breathing grew rough. He stared at me, trying to decide whether I was bluffing.
In the end, fear won.
He collapsed onto the sofa, sweat beading on his forehead, and signed the division agreement with shaking hands.
“Now get rid of the bomb,” he said, his voice trembling.
I picked up the agreement, checked the signature, and smiled.
“Don’t worry. There is no bomb.”
“I lied.”
“After all, that’s how you tricked my mother into marrying you, wasn’t it? Like father, like daughter.”
Victor realized he had been played. He was so furious he could barely breathe. He pointed at me, stammering, unable to form a sentence.
I had no interest in watching him any longer, so I turned to go upstairs.
“Stop!” Victor called after me, still struggling to control his anger. “Your sister is bringing her boyfriend home for dinner tonight. I don’t care what you’ve done before, but this meal, you will sit through properly.”
His warning sharpened.
“Her boyfriend is Dominic Morello. You know what the Morello family means in New York. We can’t afford to offend them. Put away that rebellious attitude and don’t cause trouble.”
My foot froze on the first stair.
Dominic.
Tonight, he was coming here as Sophia’s boyfriend.
The next second, the front door opened.
Sophia walked in on Dominic’s arm, smiling sweetly.