I Rejected All Eight of My Daughter’s Fiances Chapter 02
The next morning. I opened the conference room doors and
found all eight men seated along the long table.
Dario sat with one leg crossed over the other, spinning a pén
between his fingers. Nico and Rocco exchanged smug looks when I entered.
Not one of them believed I would truly cast them out of the Bellandi family.
Dario rose and pulled out the chair at the head of the table.
Mrs. Bellandi, I’m sure you’ve considered the matter
carefully. Accept Mirella, and we’ll forget what happened yesterday.”
I remained standing and slid eight termination orders across the table.
“Effective today, all eight of you are removed from every
position at Bellandi Holdings. Surrender your Bellandi insignia.”
Dario’s pen stopped moving.
Nico snatched up the papers and flipped through them. By
the time he looked up, his smile was gone.
“This isn’t funny.”
Rocco shoved his copy back toward me.
“Because we won’t marry Luciana, you’re willing to throw away the family business?”
I laughed once.
“I’m throwing away only you.”
The consigliere entered with a squad of armed guards. They
began collecting laptops, access cards, weapons permits, and
Bellandi insignia. Dario planted a hand over his computer.
his expression turning hard.
“Don’t make a reckless decision.”
said nothing. I merely motioned for the guards to continue.
One guard pulled the laptop from beneath Dario’s hand
while another removed the holster from his belt.
Dario struck the table with his palm.
Consider the reality of the situation.”
The other seven crowded closer.
“We control half of the Bellandi family’s essential shipping
routes and legitimate enterprises. Are you really going to cast
out eight men who would take a bullet for you, all because of one daughter?”
You favor Luciana because she’s your blood. But can she keep
the East Harbor capos in line?”
I swept a cold gaze across their arrogant faces.
“Are you finished? Then get out.”
Dario stared at me for several seconds, then smiled.
“Tine.”
He tore the termination order in half before my eyes.
The new freight terminal in East Haven is worth more than
three hundred million dollars. The Caruso negotiator will
deal only with me. Lose that agreement and Bellandi will
forfeit at least a hundred million, along with the northern
legitimate freight corridor.”
He dropped the pieces into the trash,
You rescued us from an orphanage, and we’re grateful. But
we’re human beings, not husbands and enforcers you bought
for Luciana. Raising us for twenty years doesn’t give you the right to control us forever.”
He deliberately patted his empty hip.
You need me. You need our son to defend Bellandi. All eight
of us have had vasectomies, Mirella’s child is your only heir.”
Dario led the others to the door, then looked back and pointed at my chair.
If you refuse to rely on your eldest son, are you really going to rely on that useless girl Luciana?”
The pen in my hand snapped in two.
Twenty years earlier, I had first seen them at Saint Orla Children’s Home.
Eight boys were packed into a shabby recreation room, each
one thinner than the last. Dario was the oldest, but at eight
his arms were still as narrow as branches. He held half a
dinner roll, too hungry to eat it himself, and broke it into pieces for the others.
I brought all eight to the Bellandi estate. Private doctors
restored their health. I gave them new clothes and rooms.
then hired the best tutors to teach them academics and the rules of our world.
At their first dinner, Nico hid two buttered rolls in his
pockets because he feared he would never see food like it again.
Six year old Luciana noticed. She did not laugh. She pushed her cupcake toward him.
That night Dario was afraid to turn out the lights. He sat
alone in the corner of his bed, hugging a pillow. Luciana
carried in her doll and placed her favorite nightlight on his bedside table.
The next morning, Dario took her hand and made me a solemn promise.
“Mom, I’m her older brother now. I’ll protect Luciana for the
rest of my life. If anyone hurts her, they’ll answer to me.”
The other boys surrounded her, all clamoring to make the same vow.
“We’ll protect her too.”
They had broken that vow. Now they would pay for it.
I released the broken pen and ordered the family auditors to
review every dollar that had passed through their hands.
Two hours later, the chief financial officer rushed into my
office with an armful of records. The eight men had diverted
family money and installed Mirella’s relatives in sensitive
posts throughout the organization.
I took a red pen and crossed out every name on the list.
‘Dismiss all seventeen. Then hand their files to security for
investigation.”
Messages from Dario appeared almost as soon as the order went out.
Dario: [Those are Mirella’s relatives. Revoke the order and I’ll
still come back to close the terminal deal for you.]
Dario: [If you offend the Carusos and someone opens fire on
your motorcade in East Harbor. don’t come crying to me for help.]
I turned off my phone and picked up the contract.
He was convinced Bellandi could not close the deal without him.
It was time he learned whose orders the Bellandi family actually obeyed.