Meanwhile, I had already bailed out moments before the plane went down, landing safely in a whole new world.
Night was falling over Antwerp’s diamond district.
I sat in my new studio, holding a flawless blue diamond.
“Lady Ares,” my assistant, Henri, came in. “Your first piece is complete.”
He set down an exquisite jewelry box.
Inside lay a platinum necklace with a pendant in the shape of a phoenix with its wings spread wide.
It was crafted from the very rubies I had taken from the Falcieri estate.
“Excellent,” I said, stroking the necklace. “Reborn from the ashes.”
“Also,” Henri handed me a check, “a collector in London is very interested in your designs. This is the deposit.”
One million euros.
My new identity, my new career–they were thriving. I fused the ancient techniques of my grandmother with modern precision, creating pieces the world had never seen.
In my hands, every diamond was given new life; every piece told a story of freedom regained.
Henri hesitated for a moment.
“Ma’am, we just received some news from New York… There’s big trouble in the Falcieri family.”
I looked up.
“What is it?”
“Don Falcieri is unraveling,” Henri said, his voice low. “Tearing the estate apart, apparently. He’s put the pregnant widow under house arrest.”
“Also, the CFO, Silas Romano, has disappeared. They say he absconded with a large sum of money.”
My fingers stilled on the phoenix pendant.
So, Caius had finally learned the truth.
At that very moment, in the Falcieri estate in New York.
Caius stood trembling, clutching the DNA report.
A 99.7% match.
Livia and Silas.
He remembered my words:
“Caius, are you really so blind you think that baby is yours?”
And what had he said?
He had told me not to be cruel. He had told me to understand.
He had traded his
queen
for
“Tony!” Caius roared.
a
pawn.
1/4
The bodyguard rushed into the room.
“Don!”
“I want every record on Silas Romano, now! Bank accounts, call logs, his movements!”
“And pull up the security footage for the entire estate. I want to see everything from the last six months!”
Two hours later, Tony returned with a stack of files, his face grim.
“Don, we found it,” he said, setting down the documents. “Over the last six months, Silas transferred thirty million dollars out of the family accounts.”
“The transfers were all made late at night, using your authorization code.”
Caius’s fists clenched.
“How did he get my code?”
“It must have been Livia. She was in and out of your study all the time.”
Tony handed Caius a phone.
“We found this in Silas’s office. It has call recordings between him and Livia.”
Caius pressed play.
Silas’s voice filled the silence.
“Just a little longer, baby. Once we have the money, we’re ghosts.”
Then came Livia’s laugh.
“That fool actually thinks the baby is his. I’m a pretty good actress, aren’t I?”
“He’s so devoted to that jewelry designer wife of his. Such a shame.”
“By the time he figures it out, we’ll be in Paris.”
Caius’s blood froze.
The recording continued, Livia’s voice turning venomous.
“That bitch Alessia, always looking at me with those eyes, like she knew something.”
“But it’s fine now. She’s dead. She’ll never get in the way again.”
Crack!
Caius’s fist shattered the whiskey glass on his desk.
His beautiful, intelligent, loyal wife.
She had known the truth all along, and he had driven her away.
And now, she was never coming back.
“Where is Silas?” Caius’s voice
was
low prowl.
“He’s gone,” Tony replied. “No one
“Find him,” Caius stood, a dangerous light in his eyes. “I don’t care if you have to tear this city apart, find him.”
seen him since yesterday. He’s probably already left the country.”
“Yes, Don.”
2/4
“Now, bring the car around. I’m paying Livia a visit.”
Ca
kicked open the door to Livia’s room.
Twenty minutes late and jumped when she saw him, a flicker of panic on her face.
She was packing
a
“Caius? What are you…
“Enough!” Caius slammed the DNA report down in front of her. “Explain this.”
Livia’s face went white when she saw the report.
But she quickly composed herself.
“What is this? I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Still lying?” Caius sneered. “A 99.7% match, Livia. The baby is Silas’s!”
She took a step back, fear in her eyes.
“Caius, let me explain…”
“Explain what? How you lied to me? How you made me lose Alessia?”
Caius advanced on her.
“Thirty million dollars, Livia. You and Silas stole thirty million from me!”
“And this!”
