All Chapters of My Best Friend STOLE MY Husband -So I Married His Brother : Chapter 31 - Chapter 40

The first thing I noticed about Italy was how beautiful it looked even when I was terrified.The road leading toward Villa Bellini curved through hills covered with olive trees and tall cypress trees, the late afternoon sunlight spilling gold across the landscape. Everything looked peaceful. Almost too peaceful for a place where someone had demanded that I come alone with a box containing evidence that could expose one of the most powerful men in my life.I sat beside Ethan in the back of the car, the blue box resting on my lap.He had wanted me to leave it behind.I had refused.“You're holding that thing like someone is going to snatch it from you,” Ethan said quietly.I looked down at my hands. He wasn't wrong. My fingers were wrapped tightly around the edges of the box.“Someone already tried to take everything from me once.”His expression changed.“I know.”There was something about the way he said it that made me look at him.Ethan had barely spoken since we left the airport. H

The name on the recorder stayed on the screen long after the recording ended.ELENA REED.I kept staring at it, almost expecting the letters to rearrange themselves into something that made more sense.They didn't.My mother had left us a recording that mentioned Jonathan Reed's death, Victor, and someone he had been protecting. Then, as if that wasn't enough, the recorder had revealed that another message was scheduled for the following morning.From Elena.The same woman who had disappeared twenty years ago.The same woman who had apparently been with Amelia three months ago.And the same woman who was now somewhere in Naples.Ethan was the first to move.“Everyone back into the vehicle.”His voice was calm, but I knew him well enough now to recognize the tension beneath it.I picked up the photograph of Elena and Amelia.“Wait.”He looked at me.I turned it over again.SHE TRUSTS HER.Those four words had been written beneath the photograph.“Why would Elena leave this for us?”Gab

The footsteps outside became louder.Amelia clung to me.I could feel her trembling.“It's okay,” I whispered. “You're safe.”But I wasn't sure whether I was telling her or myself.Ethan stood near the entrance with Gabriel and Lucas.Adrian moved toward the back of the room while Elizabeth and my mother stayed with me.Then the front doors opened.A man walked inside.He wasn't carrying a weapon.That somehow made him more frightening.He was dressed in a dark suit, his gray hair neatly combed, his expression calm.Two men followed him.Ethan stepped forward.“Who are you?”The man smiled.“My name is Marcus Bell.”Gabriel's face immediately changed.“Bell.”Marcus looked at him.“You remember me.”“I remember your father.”Marcus smiled.“My father worked for Jonathan.”“Your father betrayed him.”The smile disappeared.“My father died because of Jonathan Reed.”I tightened my arms around Amelia.Ethan noticed.“Whatever you came here for, you're not taking the child.”Marcus looked

Nobody spoke.For several seconds, the only sound inside the vault was the faint hiss of the old recorder.I stared at the photograph on the wall.Isabella.Young.Beautiful.Standing beside Victor.My mind struggled to understand what Jonathan had just said.“She was his daughter.”Ethan looked at me.“My father had a daughter?”Gabriel stepped closer to the photograph.“No.”His voice was barely above a whisper.“Victor had a daughter.”I turned toward him.“What's the difference?”Gabriel looked at me.“Victor wasn't Isabella's biological father.”I frowned.“But Jonathan's recording said…”“He said she was his daughter.”I looked at the recorder.Jonathan's voice continued.“Victor raised Isabella after her parents died. He made everyone believe she was his biological daughter because it gave him control over her inheritance.”I felt my stomach twist.Inheritance.That word again.The same word that had been following Amelia through every secret we uncovered.Jonathan continued.“

I couldn't breathe.“My mother?”Ethan nodded.“Gabriel says they found her vehicle abandoned less than ten minutes ago.”“No.”I grabbed my phone.I called her.Once.Twice.Three times.No answer.“Maybe she turned her phone off.”Ethan didn't respond.“Tell me she's okay.”His silence was enough.I looked at him.“Ethan.”“We'll find her.”“That isn't what I asked.”He reached for my face.“I don't know if she's okay.”My chest tightened.My mother had only just come back into my life.I had spent years believing she was dead.I wasn't prepared to lose her again.Amelia woke up.“Mommy?”I immediately wiped my tears.“I'm here.”She looked around.“Where is Grandma?”I swallowed.“She'll be back.”Amelia studied my face.“You're sad.”“No.”She frowned.“You are.”I pulled her into my arms.“I'm just worried.”“About Grandma?”“Yes.”“Will you find her?”I looked at Ethan.Then back at her.“Yes.”I had to.The cars pulled over at a small roadside station outside Naples.Everyone g