Chapter 16 - No Way Around It
The probate hearing began at 8:30 the next morning.
By noon, Dante knew there would be no quiet settlement.
Bianca corrected her affidavit under oath.
"I allowed my fear and my daughter's interpretation of events to influence me," she said.
Celeste's attorney attacked her credibility.
"So now you're choosing your son?"
"I'm choosing what I should have chosen earlier."
"The truth?"
"Yes."
Dr. Kline testified that his reports had been altered under financial pressure.
Sloane testified about the plan.
Javier's sworn proffer was introduced.
Then Leo's recovered recording was played.
Celeste sat absolutely still while her own voice filled the courtroom.
Once he's out, I control the children's vote.
The judge looked directly at her.
For the first time, Celeste looked afraid.
During recess, Dante found her alone near a marble column.
"You could end this."
She gave him a tired smile.
"How?"
"Tell the court everything. Tell Reeves everything."
"And spend ten years in prison?"
"I don't know what happens criminally."
"You know enough."
Dante lowered his voice.
"You attacked my children to take control of a vote."
"I never told Javier to put Leo on the ground."
"You created the situation."
She looked away.
"Yes."
It was the first direct admission he had heard from her.
Dante felt no victory.
"Why didn't you come to me?"
Celeste laughed bitterly.
"When? After twenty years of you walking into rooms and receiving what I had earned?"
"I would have listened."
"No, Dante. That's the tragedy. You wouldn't have."
He flinched.
She saw it.
"You didn't listen to Isabel."
"You're right."
The answer disarmed her.
"I was arrogant," Dante said. "Busy. Grieving. Whatever word makes me look better. But I was wrong."
Celeste's eyes filled.
"And that fixes it?"
"No."
"Then stop talking like confession makes you noble."
"It doesn't."
"Good."
The courtroom doors opened.
Nora called him.
"Dante."
Before he turned, Celeste whispered, "Charles will destroy Bellaforte tonight."
"Then help me stop him."
She smiled sadly.
"I don't think either of us can."
The judge issued an interim ruling at 3:12 p.m.
Dante remained the children's trustee.
His authority was restored subject to temporary review by Evelyn Park for extraordinary corporate transactions.
Celeste was barred from serving as successor trustee during the pending investigation.
The court found substantial evidence that the petition against Dante had been procured through manipulated information.
It should have felt like victory.
Instead Dante's phone rang before he reached the courthouse steps.
Priya.
"Delaney Private Bank issued a default notice."
"Already?"
"They claim the fraud investigation constitutes a representation breach."
"Can they accelerate?"
"They're trying."
"And the board meeting?"
"Still at seven."
Dante looked at Nora.
"If Hawthorne buys Bellaforte tonight, Charles's bank is repaid."
"Yes."
"If we block the sale, Charles tries to foreclose."
"Yes."
"What's the property worth in a forced sale?"
"Maybe a hundred thirty million."
"And Hawthorne's offer?"
"One sixty-two."
"Actual fair value?"
"Over two hundred with renovation."
Dante understood Celeste's message.
No move saved everything.
At six, he arrived at the Moretti estate.
The garden had been cleared since the barbecue.
But he could still see the exact patch of lawn where Leo had been pinned.
Mia had fallen three yards away.
Dante paused there.
Nora stood beside him.
"You don't have to win everything tonight."
"Then what do I win?"
"The part that matters most."
He looked at her.
"The truth."
Inside, board members gathered around Lorenzo Moretti's old dining table.
Charles sat at the head.
Celeste sat to his right.
Victor sat farther down, pale and sweating.
Grant Weller had joined by secure video.
Priya arrived with forensic files.
Evelyn Park attended as temporary co-trustee observer.
Dante took his seat.
Charles smiled.
"Shall we conduct some business?"
Dante looked at the man who had threatened his children, manipulated his sister and financed a scheme to steal a hotel.
"Yes."
Charles opened the Bellaforte sale resolution.
Before he could speak, Celeste placed her phone on the table.
"I have something to say first."
Charles's smile vanished.
She looked at Dante.
Then at the board.
"I helped create the scheme used to remove my brother."
Everyone went still.
Charles whispered, "Be very careful."
Celeste's hands trembled.
"No."
She looked at him.
"For twenty years, careful is how men like you kept me useful."
Charles stood.
"You don't understand what you're doing."
Celeste laughed.
"For once, I do."
Then the doors behind Dante opened.
Detective Reeves entered with federal agents.
Charles's face changed.
May you like
Reeves held up a warrant.
And the final confrontation became unavoidable.
