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Todos os capítulos de Keep the Crown, I Chose MIT: Capítulo 1 - Capítulo 9

9 Capítulos

Chapter 1

I lowered my gaze to the four custom LEGO figures sitting on my desk.I had ordered them during my first week here—Mother, Father, Dante, and Luca. It had seemed pathetic even then, but arranging them around my textbooks made the apartment feel less empty.I was about to pack them away when my phone lit up.Mother: Come home this afternoon. We need to discuss your college decision.My eyes caught on one word.Home.Something inside me stirred before I could stop it.Maybe they remembered their promise.I called a cab.Months ago, I had taken a Bellini car to visit Bianca at the hospital. The moment she saw me, she suffered another breakdown.Father blamed me and revoked my access to the family fleet, making sure I could never show up uninvited again.When the cab stopped at the estate’s iron gates, guards surrounded it and questioned the driver before finally letting us through.By the time I stepped into the main salon, Bianca was seated in the center of the room, four beautifully wra

Chapter 2

Brilliant.That was the word people had used to describe me for as long as I could remember.Bianca was prettier, sweeter, and far better at making people want to protect her.All I had was my mind.I could read a book once and remember every page. I saw patterns other people missed and solved problems before they finished explaining them.But my parents had never loved me more for it.When Dante showed the same intelligence, Father called him a born strategist—the perfect heir to the Bellini empire.When I did it, Mother would sigh.“A Bellini woman should be clever enough to survive, Valentina. Not so clever that every man in the room feels challenged.”Bianca never challenged anyone.She asked Dante to explain things she already understood. She let Father make her decisions. She looked at Luca as though every word he spoke was worth remembering.I was brilliant, so I could take care of myself.Bianca was fragile, so she got the better bedroom, the extra guards, and the first claim o

Chapter 3

窗体顶端The next morning, I went to my shift at a café on Madison Avenue.Most days, I worked behind the counter. But the café was launching a summer menu, so my manager handed me a giant coffee-cup costume and sent me outside with coupons.By noon, the Manhattan heat had turned the costume into an oven.I slipped behind the building, pulled off the foam head, and raised a bottle of water to my lips.“Valentina?”I froze.My family stood near the entrance to an Italian boutique across the street.Father and Mother were there, along with Dante, Luca, and Bianca. This was probably another shopping trip for Bianca.Dante and Luca carried several designer bags between them.Bianca carried nothing. She never had to.Mother stared at my uniform, then at the ridiculous costume beside me. Surprise crossed her face first, followed by something that almost looked like concern.“What are you doing here?” She hurried toward me. “You’re soaked with sweat.”“Working.”“Working?” Her brows drew together

Chapter 4

窗体底端That night, I fled back to my apartment on an empty stomach, the counterfeit bills stuffed inside my bag.The moment the café opened the next morning, I stormed inside and threw the envelope onto the counter.“Why did you pay me with fake money?”My manager barely flinched.“I didn’t.”“What?”“Your mother came in yesterday with two Bellini soldiers. She collected your wages and left that envelope in their place.”The room seemed to tilt beneath me.“You gave my paycheck to her?”“She’s the wife of Don Bellini.” His mouth twisted bitterly. “What exactly did you expect me to do?”I grabbed the counter to steady myself.“She said you needed to learn that earning money wasn’t as easy as you thought,” he added. “And that once you ran into trouble, you would remember who you were supposed to depend on.”I had no money left for a cab.I took the train north, then rode a bus as close to the Bellini estate as the route allowed. From there, I walked almost a mile beneath the afternoon sun.

Chapter 5

The Bellini estate was alive with preparations.Bianca’s UCLA welcome package occupied the center of the coffee table. The blue-and-gold folder lay open beside a Bruins pennant, an admitted-student handbook, and a welcome letter Mother had already read at least six times.“Our Bianca is going to UCLA,” she said, unable to hide her smile. “All those tutors and private admissions consultants were worth it.”Father sat across from her, reviewing a guest list on his tablet.“We have two daughters leaving for college. The family will mark the occasion properly.”He began naming capos, allied families, and councilmen who would be invited.“We’ll open the ballroom,” Mother suggested. “The girls can make their entrance together.”Dante shook his head as he scrolled through his contacts.“The ballroom won’t be large enough if we invite all five New York families. We should use the south lawn and bring in a pavilion.”This wasn’t going to be a simple college send-off.It would be a Bellini event

Chapter 6

Ten minutes later, the news crew was escorted into the Bellini reception room.To the public, Don Bellini was a powerful businessman. Inside his home, no one was allowed to forget what he truly was.The woman leading the crew introduced herself as an education correspondent from NY1. A cameraman and producer followed her, both visibly uneasy beneath the guards’ attention.“We’re looking for Valentina Bellini,” the reporter said. “Is she available?”Mother’s expression stiffened. “Why do you want Valentina?”The reporter glanced around the room, apparently surprised by the question.“You haven’t heard?”Father’s eyes narrowed. “Heard what?”“Valentina won first place in the Regeneron Science Talent Search,” the reporter said. No one in the room moved.“She also won a gold medal for Team USA at the International Mathematical Olympiad. She is the first American high school student ever to achieve both.”Mother stared at her. “That can’t be right.”“She was graduated as valedictorian with

Chapter 7

Rain streaked the windows when my flight landed at Logan Airport.No one was waiting for me outside baggage claim.For years, that would have hurt.I had spent most of my life waiting—for Mother to remember her promises, for Father to look at me with pride, for Dante to treat me like a sister, and for Luca to become the boy who once promised to wait for me at Stanford.Now, for the first time, being alone felt like freedom.My phone filled with missed calls the moment I turned it on.I silenced them all, ordered a rideshare, and gave the driver the address for MIT.The summer research program had arranged early campus housing for me. When I arrived, a graduate coordinator met me in the lobby with my ID card and room key.“Valentina Bellini?”I nodded.Her face brightened. “The Regeneron winner and IMO gold medalist. Everyone in the department has been waiting to meet you.”I wasn’t accustomed to hearing my achievements spoken without someone immediately mentioning Bianca.She handed me

Chapter 8

Two weeks later, Luca found me at MIT.I had just stepped out of the library when I saw him standing at the bottom of the stairs. Luca looked exhausted. His clothes were immaculate, but shadows darkened his eyes.The moment he saw me, relief crossed his face.“Val.”He hurried toward me.“I’ve been looking everywhere for you.”I stopped but didn’t run into his arms.Once, no matter how angry I was, the sight of him would have softened me.Now I only asked, “What do you want?”Luca faltered.Then his fingers tightened around the object in his hand.“I was wrong,” he said quietly. “We were supposed to be at Stanford together.”He held out the postcard I had torn apart.Someone had carefully taped the two pieces together, but the tear still cut through Hoover Tower—and through Luca’s promise on the back.I’ll be waiting for you at Stanford, Val.“I never meant to take that future from you,” he said. “I was scared Bianca would hurt herself again.”“And you thought I would survive anything

Chapter 9

Three days after Luca left Cambridge, the Bellini scandal broke.NY1 never aired the interview at the estate. Instead, someone on the crew began asking why one of America’s most accomplished students had disappeared without her family knowing where she had gone.My former classmates started talking.Then the café manager admitted that Mother had collected my wages and replaced them with counterfeit bills.The superintendent confirmed that I had lived alone for a year in a Bellini-owned building.The headlines spread across New York.THE FORGOTTEN BELLINI TWIN: NATIONAL GENIUS LIVED UNGUARDED WHILE FAMILY CELEBRATED HER SISTERSHE WON REGENERON, TURNED DOWN STANFORD, AND LEFT HER FAMILY FOR MITI saw the story while eating pizza with my roommate.She slowly lowered her phone. “Valentina...is this about you?”On the screen was a photograph of my old apartment.The four LEGO figures sat alone on the table.I looked at them for a moment, then nodded.“Yes.”She didn’t ask for details or o

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