Chapter 3 - Two Bellies
Marcello shut the blue-room door before Vanessa could leave.
“Show me.”
Her eyes widened.
“What?”
“What’s under the dress.”
“Have you lost your mind?”
“No one is touching you. But if you’re saying that thing isn’t yours, explain why Lily watched you take it off.”
Vanessa folded her arms over her stomach.
“I changed support garments.”
Marcello looked at the prosthetic.
“Support garments don’t look like a pregnant abdomen.”
Vanessa’s voice sharpened.
“I had surgery. My doctor recommended compression.”
“Which doctor?”
“That is none of your business.”
“You have spent six months telling this family you are carrying my dead brother’s child. It became my business when you used that pregnancy to claim Luca’s seat in the family trust.”
The thing no one had wanted to say in front of guests.
Three weeks after Luca died in a sailing accident, Vanessa announced she was pregnant.
Luca’s will contained an old family clause.
If he died leaving a child conceived before his death, the unborn child’s legal guardian received temporary voting authority over Luca’s twenty-two percent share of DeLuca Hospitality until paternity and inheritance were settled after birth.
Vanessa had been voting those shares for five months.
Enough to block Marcello twice.
Enough to approve a luxury property sale he opposed.
Elena asked quietly:
“When was your last prenatal appointment?”
Vanessa’s eyes flashed.
“Yesterday.”
“Which hospital?”
“Saint Catherine’s.”
Marcello pulled out his phone.
“My foundation built their maternity wing. I’ll call the chief administrator.”
Vanessa’s control broke.
“No.”
Three people stared at her.
“I mean, you have no right.”
Lily had wandered toward the wardrobe.
“Lily, stay with Mommy.”
But Lily was already pulling on the garment bag.
Inside were four more prosthetic bellies.
Each labeled with a month.
MONTH 4.
MONTH 5.
MONTH 6.
MONTH 8.
Marcello looked at Vanessa.
Her face had lost all color.
Then Lily pointed to a cardboard box at the bottom of the wardrobe.
“Baby pictures.”
Inside were printed ultrasound images.
Dozens.
Different names.
May you like
Different dates.
None of them said Vanessa Bellini.
