Loading promotion info...
I Raised Three Men Who Betrayed Me For The Real Heiress
Novelix
new
Completed
"As the sole designated heiress of the Bellandi Family, I was not raised on debutante etiquette. I was trained to hold territory, command capos, and deal with traitors. The people around me growing up were the future Dons of other Families and the capos who already wielded real power within them. My father, Don Vittorio Bellandi, and my mother, Donna Isabella Bellandi, also selected three orphaned sons of fallen soldiers and raised them to become the core of my inner circle. Their names were Matteo Rinaldi, Dante Caruso, and Nico Ferraro. When they came of age, each of them took command of his own crew. The plan was simple. On my twenty-eighth birthday, I would choose one of them to marry. He would stand beside me and help me take control of the entire Bellandi Family. Then Liliana Bellandi appeared at our door. That was when my parents discovered that two babies had been switched at the hospital twenty-eight years ago. Overnight, I went from being the sole Bellandi heiress to someone with no blood ties to the Family. Just as I was about to tell everyone that the succession plan had not changed, I overheard the three men talking outside the room. “Now that Liliana, the real Bellandi daughter, is back, is one of us still expected to marry Alessia?” Dante gave a dismissive laugh. “Of course not.” “Liliana is Don Vittorio and Donna Isabella’s biological daughter. Alessia is nothing but an impostor.” “Sooner or later, she’ll be forced out of the Family. Why would any of us marry her?” Matteo nodded. “For old times’ sake, one of us could keep her as a mistress.” “We could put her in a penthouse and give her a generous allowance. She’d never have to worry about money.” I quietly closed the door and abandoned any intention of correcting them. What they failed to understand was that blood could give Liliana the Bellandi name. It could not put her in the Boss’s chair. The capos of this Family would only obey someone capable of protecting their territory, their income, and their lives. If Matteo and the others could not understand something that basic, I would choose someone who understood loyalty and hierarchy. Someone worthy of standing beside me when I took control of Bellandi."
Chapters (3)
第1章
As the sole designated heiress of the Bellandi Family, I was not raised on debutante etiquette.
I was trained to hold territory, command capos, and deal with traitors.
The people around me growing up were the future Dons of other Families and the capos who already wielded real power within them.
My father, Don Vittorio Bellandi, and my mother, Donna Isabella Bellandi, also selected three orphaned sons of fallen soldiers and raised them to become the core of my inner circle.
Their names were Matteo Rinaldi, Dante Caruso, and Nico Ferraro.
When they came of age, each of them took command of his own crew.
The plan was simple.
On my twenty-eighth birthday, I would choose one of them to marry.
He would stand beside me and help me take control of the entire Bellandi Family.
Then Liliana Bellandi appeared at our door.
That was when my parents discovered that two babies had been switched at the hospital twenty-eight years ago.
Overnight, I went from being the sole Bellandi heiress to someone with no blood ties to the Family.
Just as I was about to tell everyone that the succession plan had not changed, I overheard the three men talking outside the room.
“Now that Liliana, the real Bellandi daughter, is back, is one of us still expected to marry Alessia?”
Dante gave a dismissive laugh.
“Of course not.”
“Liliana is Don Vittorio and Donna Isabella’s biological daughter. Alessia is nothing but an impostor.”
“Sooner or later, she’ll be forced out of the Family. Why would any of us marry her?”
Matteo nodded.
“For old times’ sake, one of us could keep her as a mistress.”
“We could put her in a penthouse and give her a generous allowance. She’d never have to worry about money.”
I quietly closed the door and abandoned any intention of correcting them.
What they failed to understand was that blood could give Liliana the Bellandi name.
It could not put her in the Boss’s chair.
The capos of this Family would only obey someone capable of protecting their territory, their income, and their lives.
If Matteo and the others could not understand something that basic, I would choose someone who understood loyalty and hierarchy.
Someone worthy of standing beside me when I took control of Bellandi.
...
I turned away from the door and called Enzo Sorrentino.
“From now on, you’ll assist me with Bellandi Holdings and the Family’s affairs.”
He did not hesitate.
“Understood.”
Over the years, I had cultivated my own loyal people outside of Matteo and the other two.
Enzo was the quietest among them.
He was also the most capable and the most reliable when it came to carrying out my orders.
The next day, my parents arranged a succession council that I was supposed to chair.
The directors of Bellandi Holdings, the Family’s capos, and our most important allies would all be present.
My parents intended to formally announce that I would remain the heiress of the Bellandi Family.
Liliana would receive five percent of the shares in Bellandi Holdings.
I arrived at Bellandi Holdings headquarters on time.
The moment I reached the doors of the conference hall, two security guards stepped in front of me.
“Ms. Bellandi, Capo Rinaldi has revoked your access.”
“You are not permitted to enter the conference hall.”
I let out a quiet laugh.
The succession decision had not even been announced, yet Matteo was already desperate to force me out of Bellandi.
They appeared to have forgotten something.
When they were children living in an orphanage supported by the Family, I was the one who selected them from a long list of candidates.
I arranged their training, brought them into the Family, and helped place each of them in command of a crew.
Now they were using the power I had given them against me.
I did not waste time arguing with the guards.
I called Matteo directly.
“Tell them to let me in.”
He clearly had not expected to hear from me.
“What are you doing at headquarters?”
“I’m here for the share transfer and the succession council.”
The line went silent for a moment.
“Alessia, today’s meeting is to announce to the directors and capos that Liliana will take over Bellandi Holdings.”
“You have nothing to do with Bellandi anymore. There is no reason for you to attend.”
“Are you sure about that?”
Dante took the phone from him.
“Alessia, we aren’t trying to hurt you.”
“Liliana is the rightful Bellandi heiress.”
“Even if you dedicated twenty-eight years to this Family, you need to accept that you are an outsider.”
“Leave while you still have some dignity.”
He spoke as though his conclusion were indisputable.
I glanced at the security camera above the hallway and smiled.
“So I’m supposed to thank the three of you for not throwing me out yourselves?”
Before Dante could answer, I heard Liliana’s voice in the background.
“Matteo, which dress should I wear?”
“I’m still nervous. Will the directors and capos really listen to me?”
“Should I prepare gifts for them so I can make a good first impression?”
Matteo deliberately raised his voice.
“Only an impostor needs gifts to buy loyalty.”
“You are the real Bellandi.”
“You could say nothing, and they would still have to obey you.”
I knew those words were meant for me.
I did not argue further.
I turned around, got into my car, and told the driver to leave headquarters.
I wanted to see how they planned to conduct a succession council without the person authorized to chair it.
The car had barely left the building when the COO of Bellandi Holdings called me.
His voice was frantic.
“Ms. Bellandi, where are you?”
“The meeting is about to begin.”
“Without your authorization and signature, neither the share transfer nor the succession proceedings can move forward.”
My voice remained calm.
“Matteo revoked my access to headquarters.”
“If that is how he wants to handle things, let him chair the meeting.”
I ended the call.
Less than a minute later, a notice appeared on Bellandi Holdings’ internal system.
【The share transfer and succession council scheduled for today have been postponed. A new date will be announced.】
第2章
Shortly after I ended the call, my assistant knocked on the office door.
“Ms. Bellandi, it’s time for your follow-up appointment.”
“Have the jet prepared.”
He did not move.
He stood in front of me, visibly uncomfortable.
After a moment, he lowered his voice.
“Matteo and the others took your private jet.”
“They said they were taking Liliana to Hawaii to help her relax.”
I frowned.
I had suffered from severe asthma since childhood.
To make it easier for me to fly to a specialist pulmonary center in Denver every month, my parents had commissioned a private jet equipped specifically for my medical needs.
Whenever Matteo or the other two needed to travel urgently on Family business, I had allowed them to use it.
Eventually, they began treating the jet as though it belonged to all four of us.
Now they had taken it without permission simply because they wanted to take Liliana to Hawaii.
I opened the jet’s security feed.
Liliana was sitting between the three men, hesitation written across her face.
“We took Alessia’s jet without asking. Are you sure she won’t be angry?”
“What if yesterday’s meeting was postponed for some other reason? Maybe she wasn’t trying to humiliate me.”
Matteo looked at her with concern.
“You’re too generous, Liliana.”
“Even now, you’re still making excuses for her.”
“Alessia has always had a vicious side.”
“She resented us for having security keep her out of headquarters, so she deliberately derailed the meeting to humiliate you in front of every director and capo.”
Dante placed a blanket over Liliana’s legs.
“You are the real Bellandi.”
“One day, everything in the Bellandi Family will belong to you. That includes this jet.”
“You have nothing to feel guilty about.”
“If Alessia decided to embarrass you in public, she can live with the consequences.”
“If she wants to see her doctor, she can book a commercial flight.”
Even though I had already lost faith in them, something still twisted painfully in my chest.
They had helped me run Family business for ten years.
We had survived ambushes, shootouts, and betrayals together.
One of them had taken two bullets and nearly died.
Even then, his first concern had been making sure the operation we were handling did not fall apart.
I could not understand it.
Only a week earlier, they had still been checking on me and reminding me to use my inhaler.
I had even worried that no matter which of them I chose to marry, I would hurt the other two.
I drew in a slow breath and activated the cabin intercom.
“It’s ten-thirty.”
“I want that jet heading back to San Francisco within thirty minutes.”
All four of them went still.
They looked up at the security camera.
Dante spoke first.
“Alessia, are you spying on us?”
The tightness in my chest was beginning to build.
I had no desire to argue with them.
“Matteo, tell the pilot to turn the jet around.”
“If he doesn’t, you will deal with the consequences.”
Matteo laughed coldly.
“What makes you think you can still give us orders?”
“You deliberately derailed the succession council yesterday and humiliated the real heiress in front of every capo.”
“Taking Liliana away from the city is how we’re cleaning up the mess you made.”
“Once Liliana takes over Bellandi, don’t expect anyone to protect you.”
Liliana’s eyes turned red.
“Forget it. Don’t fight because of me.”
“We can go back.”
Dante immediately stood and placed his hand on the intercom switch.
“If Liliana hadn’t stopped us yesterday, you would already have been stripped of every title and thrown out of the Bellandi estate.”
“What authority do you think you still have over us?”
I smiled coldly.
They thought Liliana’s blood gave her power automatically.
But she had never attended a formal sit-down.
She had never negotiated for territory.
There was not a single Bellandi crew that would follow her orders.
They were about to learn how little blood meant without power behind it.
I did not argue further.
I sent a message directly to the pilot.
【If they refuse to return, land on my private island in the Pacific.】
第3章
Thirty minutes later, the jet landed on my private island.
The security feed showed the flight crew unloading all four sets of luggage and leaving them beside the runway without a word.
Matteo’s expression darkened with rage.
“Liliana is the true heiress of the Bellandi Family!”
“I’d like to see who dares leave us here!”
The crew ignored him.
They closed the cabin doors, and the jet was airborne again within minutes.
By the time the four of them finally returned to San Francisco, their hair was disheveled and their clothes were covered in dust and dirt.
They looked as though they had spent the entire day stranded on the side of a road.
The moment Matteo entered the Bellandi estate, he pointed at me and shouted:
“Alessia, have you lost your mind?”
“You nearly got Liliana killed because you refuse to give up the succession!”
“We are calling the Don and Donna right now. You will be out of Bellandi before the night is over.”
I was reviewing the financial reports for Bellandi Holdings.
I did not even look up.
I pressed a button on my desk and connected the secure line to my parents.
“Go ahead.”
Before Matteo could speak, my father’s voice came through the speaker.
“I already know what happened on the island.”
“They took your jet without permission. Handle it however you see fit.”
He paused.
“But Liliana is still my daughter.”
“Do not humiliate her in front of the other Families.”
My mother spoke next.
“The wedding will take place in three days.”
“At the ceremony, we will also announce who remains the designated heiress of the Bellandi Family.”
Liliana’s eyes lit up.
She nervously grabbed Matteo’s hand.
“Three days?”
“Isn’t that too soon? I haven’t prepared anything.”
Matteo patted the back of her hand.
As he comforted her, his eyes remained fixed on me.
“Everything was always supposed to belong to you.”
“Now your name and your power are simply being returned to their rightful owner.”
I immediately understood.
They had misinterpreted my parents’ words.
They thought the wedding in three days was for Liliana.
My assistant entered the room.
“Ms. Bellandi, the venue has been prepared according to your instructions.”
Before he could finish, Liliana snatched the venue book from his hands.
She flipped through several pages and frowned.
“Alessia, after all these years as a Bellandi, how is your taste still this terrible?”
“I don’t like any of this.”
“Change everything.”
Matteo turned toward my assistant.
“Revise it according to Liliana’s instructions.”
My assistant instinctively looked at me.
“But Ms. Bellandi…”
Matteo cut him off.
“Mind how you address the Bellandi heiress.”
“The Bellandi Family has only one heiress, and that is Liliana.”
“You are standing here because Bellandi allows it.”
“Do not forget where your loyalty belongs.”
Liliana tugged lightly at Matteo’s sleeve and smiled at me.
“Alessia, if you really like this design, I can pay for it when you get married someday.”
Dante looked at her with affection and admiration.
When he turned to me, there was only contempt.
“Alessia, this isn’t up for discussion.”
“If you refuse to make these changes, none of us will speak for you when you’re thrown out of Bellandi.”
In their eyes, blood was the only requirement for inheriting the Family.
It did not matter how capable I was.
It did not matter that most of Bellandi’s legitimate holdings and underground operations passed through my hands.
To them, I was nothing more than an outsider who happened to work for Bellandi.
I looked at their smug expressions and nodded.
“Fine.”
My assistant stared at me in disbelief.
“Ms. Bellandi?”
I did not look at him.
My eyes remained fixed on Liliana.
“I promise this will be a wedding you remember for the rest of your life.”