Chapter 15
The Bellandi organization changed quietly.
Matteo’s channels closed.
Luca’s crews reassigned.
Vale lost every route he had purchased.
Grant lost access to Bellandi properties.
Vanessa lost hers too.
No police.
No courtroom.
No press.
Just doors that stopped opening.
Phones that stopped being answered.
Men who no longer stepped aside when they entered.
Grant hated that most.
“You’re erasing me.”
I looked at him.
“No.”
“You took everything.”
“No.”
“You took my position.”
“You used my daughter to get it.”
Silence.
“You used Noah to keep it.”
He looked away.
I continued.
“And now you’re discovering access is not ownership.”
His face twisted.
“He’s still my son.”
“Yes.”
That answer surprised him.
“You admit it.”
“I never denied it.”
“Then let me see him.”
“When Isabella and Noah are ready.”
“He’s three. He doesn’t decide.”
“His fear decides plenty.”
Grant laughed bitterly.
“You’ve made him afraid of me.”
“No.”
I stepped closer.
“You did that yourself.”
He had no answer.
Later, Noah asked me a question.
“Grandpa?”
“Yes?”
“Daddy bad?”
I paused.
Children deserve truth without adult poison.
“Daddy made bad choices.”
Noah thought.
“Lots?”
“Yes.”
“Can he make good?”
“Maybe.”
That mattered.
No promises.
No guarantees.
He looked relieved by the possibility.
Then returned to his craft.
He was making another flower.
This one green.
“For who?”
He covered it quickly.
“Secret.”
I smiled.
“Okay.”
The next morning I found it on my desk.
Crooked.
Too much tape.
One petal upside down.
A small note Isabella had helped him write:
FOR GRANDPA.
I stared at it longer than I should have.
Noah appeared in the doorway.
“You like?”
“Yes.”
“Garbage?”
My heart broke.
I crouched.
“No.”
He waited.
I touched the flower carefully.
“This stays.”
“Forever?”
“As long as it survives.”
He smiled.
Then ran away.
May you like
Grant had taught him handmade things were disposable.
I decided to teach him the opposite.
