The Heiress' Revenge

Dante’s POV

I sat in my wheelchair staring at myself in the mirror. I wore a black suit and white shirt, pairing it with a tie that fit the suit.

It felt different dressing up this way after weeks of abandoning my responsibilities.

But the time I got downstairs, Melissa was already there; she was dressed for work too. She looked at me with surprise, like she wasn’t expecting to see me out of bed.

"Dante," she said, putting down her coffee. "Where are you going dressed up like that? What’s going on?"

I looked at her, trying so hard to fight back a hiss, the woman who had married me under false pretenses. Who was gutting my company piece by piece, I wanted to scream at her and tell her that she won’t get away with whatever crap she’s up to, but I couldn’t. Adele’s not yet, not until I have a plan.

"I want to go to the company," I said with my voice calm and steady. "I want to do something. I can’t keep sitting in this house all day. I can’t keep doing nothing, I need to feel useful. I need to feel like myself again."

Melissa’s face tightened just for a second, then she smiled a fake smile. The one that made my skin crawl. "But the doctor said you can’t work until you’re better. He said you need rest, you need to let your brain heal. You need to—"

"I don’t care what the doctor said," I interrupted. "I’m tired of resting and sitting in that room staring at the walls. I’m going to the company even if it’s just for a few hours. Even if I just sit there and watch. I need to get out of this house."

Melissa stared at me.

I could see her thinking.

Calculating.

Trying to figure out if this was a problem.

Trying to figure out how to control me and how to keep me from messing up her plans.

"Fine," she said finally, with her voice tight. "Fine. We’ll go together, but you stay in my office. I don’t want you stressing over things, okay? You let me handle things...Agreed?"

I nodded. "Agreed."

The car ride was quiet. Melissa was on her phone the whole time texting and calling. Doing whatever she did to steal from me. I watched her out of the corner of my eye. She looked nervous as her hands were shaking. Her jaw was tight, and she kept glancing at me like she was waiting for me to say something.

I didn’t say anything, I just looked out the window, trying to keep calm and fight the urge to strangle her to death.

We got to the company, and the building looked the same, but everything else was different. New people at the front desk, new guards at the.

They were new faces everywhere. Melissa had replaced almost everyone. People who had been with me for years.

She helped me out of the car and pushed my chair through the lobby with people staring and whispering. I looked away when I looked at them.

One of the workers rushed to us, "Mrs. Russo," she said. "The meeting is about to commence. They’re waiting for you in the boardroom."

Melissa nodded and pushed me into the elevator, the doors closing, I looked at her. "What meeting?"

Melissa smiled a fake smile. "We secured a huge deal. A partnership with a popular company from Brooklyn. They’re very interested in investing, and this could be good for us. Really good."

I didn’t say anything, but my mind was racing. A partnership with a company from Brooklyn?

What was she planning?

The elevator doors opened, and we walked to the boardroom. The doors were closed. Melissa’s assistant opened them, and we went inside.

As we got on, we got settled, and soon after, the door pushed open, and I’m guessing the investors walked in.

My eye fell on a familiar figure, and my heart started pounding. It couldn’t be. It wasn’t possible.

She looked up.

Ariana.

She looked different, beautifully different... even more finer than I remembered, or was it because I hadn’t seen her in a while?

How?

What’s going on?