Replaced at the Altar, Returned as an Heiress Chapter 05
Only the fire could be heard in the drawing room.
Matteo stared at the announcement on the screen as though seeing the woman in the photograph for the first
time.
The face belonged to Isabella.
The name beneath it was Isabella Venturi.
Sofia broke the silence first.
“This is impossible. If she were really the Venturi heir, why would she spend years in New York pretending to be an orphan?”
No one at the card table agreed with her.
The Venturi family rarely revealed its internal affairs, but it controlled major Mediterranean shipping routes, a European private bank, and extensive holdings across southern Italy. The DeLucas held considerable power in New York, yet even they treated the Venturis with caution.
The men who had mocked Isabella slowly set down their glasses.
Several of them remembered saying that she had nowhere to go without Matteo.
Matteo took the phone and read the announcement again.
The public statement was brief. Isabella had lived in America under her mother’s surname, Vale, while the Venturi family protected her identity. She was now ending her private life in New York and returning to assume control of the family’s shipping, banking, and European interests.
Matteo remembered the black sedan outside the townhouse.
The driver’s European accent. The respectful way he had opened the door for her. Isabella’s calm expression when Matteo threatened to cancel their registration.
She had already arranged her departure.
“Find her flight,” he ordered.
His lieutenant, Marco, contacted the private airport but received only a formal refusal.
“The Venturi aircraft has already departed New York. Its passenger information, route, and landing time are protected.”
“Contact their New York representative.”
“They refused to accept an inquiry from the DeLuca family.”
Matteo’s face hardened.
In New York, few people dared make him wait. The Venturis had not even allowed him to speak.
Sofia moved closer.
“She concealed her identity to get near you. Now she has revealed it to humiliate you. That announcement was probably prepared long ago.”
Matteo looked at her.
“Why would she need to get near me?”
Sofia fell silent.
Isabella possessed more wealth, influence, and family power than any of them had imagined. She had never needed the DeLucas to enter high society, and she did not need marriage to gain status.
There was only one reason she had stayed beside him.
She had genuinely wanted to marry him.
Matteo rose abruptly and went upstairs.
The bedroom remained exactly as Isabella had left it. Every gown, jewel, and handbag purchased by the DeLuca family was still there. The sapphire necklace lay inside its velvet box.
Her engagement ring rested beside it.
Sofia had insisted Isabella would never abandon something so valuable.
She had taken nothing.
Matteo closed his hand around the ring and remembered her walking away with one suitcase.
He had believed she had no home, no family, and no life beyond him.
The only person who had known nothing was Matteo.
Marco stopped at the bedroom door.
“The Venturi lawyers sent formal documents.”
“The termination of the engagement?”
“Yes. They also demand that the DeLuca family stop using Miss Venturi’s photographs, private information, and any public material connected to the engagement.”
Matteo turned.
“Tell them I do not agree.”
Marco hesitated.
“You never completed the legal registration. According to the documents, Miss Venturi does not require your #consent.”
Matteo’s grip tightened around the ring.
For three years, he had decided everything for Isabella.
Where she lived. Which events she attended. What she wore. When they would register their marriage.
He had never imagined she could end their relationship somewhere his permission meant nothing.
“Prepare the plane.”
“Destination?”
