The Heiress' Revenge

Dante’s POV

It’s been three months since I’ve been trapped in this chair. That was how long I had been trapped in this lie, how long I had been pretending.

But the truth was different.

The truth was that I got my memory back a month ago.

One month.

Everything came rushing back like a flood: Ariana, the children, the life we built, and Melissa’s lies.

Her manipulation, blackmail... the papers Ariana signed. The shares she gave to Ricardo.

Everything came back to me, and I couldn’t do anything but wonder how fate kept playing around with my life.

None of this would have happened if she hadn’t signed those papers; if she had just come to me, then we wouldn’t be in this mess.

I didn’t understand. I couldn’t understand how she could do that to me? After everything we had been through. After everything we survived, all the promises we made.

She chose fear over trust.

She chose secrets over honesty.

She chose her father over me.

And that is the most painful of it all.

The man who had tried to destroy us before and had abandoned her, yet she chose him over our family.

Why?

It just didn’t make sense.

I didn’t know what to do or how to go about the current mess I’m in.

So I stayed in the chair and stayed hidden behind the mask of amnesia while Melissa ran my company into the ground.

While she fired loyal employees.

While she brought in her own people and pretended to be the loving wife, she was stealing everything I had built.

It was killing me every day, hour, and minute. Watching her smile and lie. Watching her touch me like she had any right to be near me.

She made my skin crawl.

She made my blood boil.

She made me want to scream.

But I couldn’t yet, at least. Not until I had a plan.

Not until I knew what to do or figured out how to fix this mess.

Today was worse than usual.

Melissa was in my office again, doing what she did best as usual.

"Dante," she said, sitting on the arm of my chair. Too close and familiar. "I need you to sign these. Just some paperwork. Nothing important."

I looked at the papers.

They were important.

Everything she brought me was important.

Contracts.

Transfers.

Legal documents that gave her more control and power. More of everything that wasn’t hers.

"What is it?" I asked with a flat voice. The voice of a man who didn’t remember.

Melissa waved her hand. "Just some routine things. The lawyers said you need to sign. It’s nothing for you to worry about. I’ll handle everything."

I took the pen and signed my name.

She smiled and kissed my cheek. "Thank you, baby. I knew I could count on you."

She left the door closed behind her. I sat there staring at the door, feeling the rage burn in my chest.

She had torn my family apart.

She had taken my children.

She had stolen my company.

She had married me under false pretenses and lies.

And I let her because I didn’t have a choice now.

I had already lost everything.

The family I had been so afraid to lose was already gone. Ariana was gone, the children too; my unborn baby was gone before I ever got to hold him.

I put my head in my hands the tears came. I didn’t stop them. There was no one here to see.

I didn’t know why Ariana signed the company over to her father.

But I needed answers, she needed to taste the same pain she inflicted on me.

I thought about calling her.

I thought about telling her I remembered. I thought about begging her to come back, but I couldn’t.

I didn’t know where to begin fixing this. I couldn’t even speak to Marcus because I was not sure if he was working with her or not.

Because what if he told Melissa? What if he was working with her? What if everyone I loved had betrayed me?

I looked at the clock. It was late, almost midnight, and Melissa was in her room; we don’t even share a bed.

I stood up with my legs strong. My body was healed. I had been walking for weeks, running and exercising during the night.

I pushed the chair to the side. It rolled away, hitting the wall with a soft thud. I walked to the window, inhaling a deep breath before pulling out my phone from my pocket.

I scrolled through my contact list, stopping at a name.

A name I hadn’t called in years.

I pressed call.

The phone rang once, twice, and thrice.

A voice answered, rough and sleepy. "Yeah?"

"It’s me," I said. "I need you to come pick me up by two in the morning at the back gate. Don’t tell anyone. Don’t ask questions. Just be there."

There was a pause, "I’ll be there."

The line went dead.

I put the phone in my pocket.

This had to end now; the earlier I get to the bottom of this, the better.

I walked to the closet and pulled out a hoodie.

The clock ticked.

The minutes passed.

One in the morning.

One thirty.

One forty-five.

I walked to the door, and I’m headed out.

I walked out of the hallway, which was dark.

I got outside the house through the back gate that even my guards didn’t know about.

There was a car waiting for me.

I walked to the car and opened it.

I got in.

I didn’t look back.

"Sir?" the driver asked.

"Drive"