Chapter 7 - THE WEDDING THAT NEVER HAPPENED
Luciano canceled the wedding publicly.
The announcement was brief: the ceremony would not proceed, and private family matters would not be discussed.
Celina responded with a different story.
She told friends that Luciano had become obsessed with his late wife, that he was using the trust as an excuse to control her, and that Ellie had been encouraged to reject her.
Some relatives believed her.
Others began asking questions.
Marianne refused to remain silent.
At a family gathering, she placed copies of the forged authorization and the suspicious enrollment packet on the table.
“This is what Celina arranged for a six-year-old child,” she said. “Anyone who wants to defend her should explain why.”
No one answered.
Luciano didn't attend. He was meeting investigators and reviewing security procedures.
The evidence against Adrian was growing, but the threatening note remained difficult to trace.
Then Richard discovered that the stolen trust certificate had been copied before the attempted loan application.
The copy contained a small handwritten notation from Isabella.
It referenced a secondary safeguard held outside the estate's main legal records.
Luciano recognized the phrase from his wife's letter.
The blue ledger.
He remembered a blue leather notebook Isabella had kept in her study. He had assumed it contained household accounts.
It was missing.
They searched the library, the safe, and the storage room.
Nothing.
Then Ellie quietly said, “Mommy's blue book?”
Luciano knelt.
“Do you remember where it was?”
Ellie nodded.
“Mommy hid it when I was little. She said it was a treasure and I shouldn't tell anyone until Daddy asked.”
His throat tightened.
“Where did she hide it?”
Ellie led him to the old playroom and pointed to a loose panel behind a bookshelf.
Inside was the blue ledger.
Richard opened it carefully.
The first pages contained ordinary household notes. The later pages documented meetings, dates, and questions Isabella had asked about the trust.
There were also references to Adrian's earlier attempts to acquire a stake in the estate.
But the final entry was different.
It listed a bank account and the name of a person who had agreed to hold backup copies of the trust documents.
The name belonged to a woman Luciano had not seen in years.
Isabella's former financial adviser.
Richard immediately contacted her through verified professional channels.
She agreed to meet them the following morning.
Before the meeting, however, Luciano received a message from Celina.
Adrian knows about the ledger. If you want Ellie safe, meet me alone.
May you like
He stared at the screen.
For the first time, he couldn't tell whether Celina was warning him—or setting another trap.
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