Chapter 103

Chapter 103
Damian's POV
I stood at my office window, watching the morning fog roll across the estate grounds. Something about this whole situation with Benedetta felt wrong. Deeply wrong.
Why was she so focused on Aria?
The theft accusation, the elaborate frame job, the threats at the hospital—all of it seemed excessive for what should have been a simple case of class prejudice. Benedetta's hatred felt too personal, too calculated.
If this was just about protecting Adriana's position in the family, there were easier ways to handle it. Subtle social sabotage, quiet character assassination, financial pressure—the kind of sophisticated manipulation that women like Benedetta excelled at.
But this? This was war.
Which meant Aria represented more than just an inconvenient romantic interest.
I picked up my phone and dialed Lorenzo's number.
"Boss?"
"I need you to dig deeper into Aria's background. Everything. Her childhood, her time at the orphanage, anything that might explain why Benedetta sees her as such a threat."
"You thinking there's more to this than we realized?"
"I'm thinking a woman doesn't orchestrate this level of destruction unless she's protecting something bigger than her pride." I turned away from the window. "Focus on her early years. The circumstances that brought her to Sant'Anna, any family connections we might have missed."
"Already started preliminary research, but those orphanage records are notoriously incomplete. A lot of documentation from that period was..."
"Was what?"
"Destroyed in a fire about fifteen years ago. Most of the early admission records were lost."
Too convenient. "All of them?"
"According to the official reports, yes. But I might be able to find backup records, off-site storage, that kind of thing."
"Do it. And Lorenzo?"
"Boss?"
"Be discreet. If Benedetta is watching for inquiries into Aria's past, I don't want her to know we're digging."

Three hours later, my phone rang. Lorenzo's voice was grim.
"Boss, we have a problem."
I'd been expecting this call, but it still made my stomach clench. "Talk to me."
"I sent Marco to Sant'Anna Orphanage this morning to check on any surviving records. Unofficial channels, very quiet approach."
"And?"
"Someone got there first. Last night, specifically."
Benedetta. Of course.
"What do you mean, got there first?"
"The night administrator found evidence of forced entry this morning. Several file cabinets had been broken into, contents scattered. But here's the interesting part—only one section was completely cleaned out."
"Let me guess. Records from twenty-one years ago."
"Exactly. Aria's admission period. Everything else was left intact, but her entire file is gone. Along with several other records from that same time frame."
I closed my eyes, feeling pieces of a puzzle clicking into place. "She destroyed the evidence. Whatever secret she's been protecting, it's connected to Aria's admission to that orphanage."
"That's what I'm thinking. But boss, there's something else."
"What?"
"Marco talked to one of the older nuns, someone who's been there since the eighties. She remembers a little girl being brought in around that time—no official channels, no paperwork trail. Just showed up one night with a substantial donation to ensure the child was cared for."
No official channels. My pulse quickened.
"Did she remember anything else? Physical description, age, circumstances?"
"Maybe five years old. The nun said she was well-dressed, obviously came from money, but seemed traumatized. Wouldn't speak for weeks."
"Lorenzo," I said slowly, "I want you to pull every piece of information you can find about the Montrosso family from twenty-one years ago. Deaths, births, disappearances. Anything unusual."
"You thinking what I think you're thinking?"
"I'm thinking Benedetta just confirmed that Aria's identity is the key to this whole mess. And I'm going to find out why."

Benedetta's POV
My hands were still shaking from the night's work when Carlo called. I'd barely slept after destroying those files, every creak of the house making me jump.
But it's done, I reminded myself. The records are gone. No one can prove anything now.
"Boss, I've got an update on the Cavalieri situation."
I forced my voice to sound steady. "Go ahead."
"I did some deeper digging into the relationship between Damian and the girl. Turns out it's not what we thought."
What do you mean?
"They're not in love, boss. It's a business arrangement. A contract."
I sat up straighter. "What kind of contract?"
"Surrogacy. Damian needed an heir but didn't want the complications of marriage. So he contracted Aria to carry his child—old-fashioned way of securing the bloodline without emotional entanglements."
"That's... actually useful information," I said slowly. "If their relationship is purely transactional, it might be easier to undermine."
"There's more, boss. The original plan was IVF, no physical contact between them. But the IVF failed. "
I frowned. "Failed how? Was there something wrong with her fertility?"
"That's what I thought at first. But when I dug deeper into the medical records..." Carlo paused. "Boss, the IVF didn't fail because of any medical issue."
"Then why—"
"Damian sabotaged it."
"What? Are you certain about this?"
"As certain as I can be without a confession. But think about it, boss—if Damian wanted a purely clinical arrangement, why would he sabotage the very procedure that would give him what he wanted?"
Because he didn't want it to be purely clinical.
The realization hit me like lightning. Damian had sabotaged the IVF because he wanted to sleep with Aria. He'd engineered the failure so he'd have an excuse to consummate their arrangement the old-fashioned way.
Which means he's been manipulating her from the beginning.
"Carlo, this is perfect. Absolutely perfect."
"I thought you might see the potential."
"If Aria discovers that Damian deliberately sabotaged her medical treatment, that he forced her into physical intimacy under false pretenses..." I smiled for the first time in days. "It would destroy any trust between them."
"Exactly. And a woman who doesn't trust her protector is much easier to manipulate."
Or eliminate, I thought, but didn't say it aloud.
"How do you suggest we use this information?"
"Carefully," Carlo said. "We need proof she'll believe, not just our word against his. Medical records, testimony from the clinic staff, something concrete."
"Can you get that?"
"Give me forty-eight hours. I've got people who can access the clinic's files, maybe find evidence of the tampering."
"Do it. And Carlo?"
"Yes, boss?"
"Make sure the evidence is ironclad. When Aria learns the truth about what Damian did to her, I want her angry enough to leave him. Angry enough to disappear completely."
Because a disappeared Aria couldn't threaten my secrets. And a betrayed Aria would be much less likely to have Damian's protection.