Chapter 6
Cesare slowly turned his back on Diane, who was whimpering quietly on the carpet. He walked back to the cloakroom, his polished shoes crunching over a stray piece of foam coral. When he emerged into the bright light of the lounge, he held the padded, floral pregnancy piece in one hand. The fastening straps dangled loosely from his grip, a grotesque symbol of their deception.
He walked to the center of the room and stopped. He looked at Vanessa, who was shaking violently near her unconscious brother. He looked at Julian, who stood paralyzed with shock, unable to comprehend the magnitude of the lie. And finally, he looked down at Diane.
"You humiliated. My granddaughter," Cesare said. His voice was dead calm, a freezing void that offered no mercy. "To protect a pregnancy. That never existed."
Vanessa looked desperately toward Ethan, but her brother remained motionless among the diving fins, offering no salvation.
"It wasn't my idea!" Vanessa sobbed, her American accent cracking as she pointed a trembling finger at Diane. "She planned it! Diane told us that you were going to leave the primary trust to Avice! She said we needed an heir to secure Julian's place as your successor!"
Julian’s face turned ash-white. "Vanessa... is this true? You aren't pregnant?"
"Julian, you fool," Cesare murmured softly, staring at his son with profound, aching disappointment. "You sleep next to this woman. Every night. And you did not know. She was wearing a cushion?"
"We... we haven't shared a bed in months," Julian stammered, humiliation burning intensely on his rosy cheeks. "She said the pregnancy was high-risk. She said the doctor ordered separate rooms for the safety of the baby."
"She played you. For a complete idiot," Cesare stated, the absolute truth cutting deeper than any blade.
"Cesare, please," Diane wheezed from the floor, wiping a streak of blood from her lip. "I did it for the Lombardi name! That child is the daughter of a commoner! Julian needed a pureblood heir to maintain the respect of the Commission! The other families were laughing at us!"
"You did it for greed, Diane," Cesare corrected, his voice devoid of any familial warmth. He tossed the padded belly onto the floor. It landed at Julian’s feet with a soft, pathetic thud. "You thought you could control Vanessa and Ethan. You thought you could use a fake child to siphon power away from me."
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"They promised me thirty percent of the offshore accounts!" Diane cried, confessing in her blind panic. "I am your older sister! I deserved a seat at the table!"
"You deserve the gutter," Cesare replied.
