The Rose He Killed novel Chapter 276

Chapter 244: The Marchetti Succession Question Pt 2

Bella POV

So, I called Sebastien back on the fourth morning. I laid out my terms clearly, the exact same way I handled every major business contract.

“No chairmanship, and no executive role,” I told him over the phone. “But I want a non-executive board seat structured as a genuine equal partnership. And Elaine’s work must be formally documented and preserved. That is a non-negotiable condition attached to everything else.”

Sebastien listened to every word without interrupting me once. When I finished speaking, there was a very long pause on the phone line, The silence stretched out for so long I thought the call had dropped.

“Agreed,” Sebastien said simply. His voice sounded heavy, but sure: “All of it, Bella. The board seat will be drafted by the legal team exactly as you have described it. And I will personally oversee the documentation of Elaine’s work myself.”

He took a deep breath, and I could hear the emotion in his throat. “I should have done it decades ago. I have no excuse for waiting this long except my own grief, which is not a good enough reason to have left her in the dark.”

Right after he spoke, I heard a loud sound behind him on the call-a long, deep exhale.

“So it is done then,” a second voice said over the line.

I blinked, recognizing the sharp, formal accent immediately. It was Olivier. He had been sitting in on the call the entire time, listening to every single word.

‘You have been worried about this, Olivier,” I said to him directly. I surprised myself with how easily his name came off my tongue.

‘I have been worried about many things, Bella,” Olivier said carefully. His voice was much steadier than it had been in our past conversations. “This specific matter being one of a smaller number now.”

‘It is settled now,” I told him, keeping my tone firm but warm. “All of it is settled.”

“Good,” Olivier said. I could hear something in his tone that sounded unmistakably like pure relief. “That is very good to hear.”

“We will start on the art archive next week,” Sebastien added, his business voice coming back to hide his emotion. “I will have the curators call you to get any details you want.”

“Thank you,” I said. “That means a lot to me.”

“We are a family, Bella,” Sebastien said softly. “It is time we started acting like one.”

I hung up the phone and looked out the kitchen window at the sunny garden. For the first time in a very long time, the future felt entirely clear.

A few days later, I picked up the small plastic bottle of iron pills from the kitchen counter and twisted the cap open. Dr. Okafor’s strict words kept repeating in my head.

<Chapter 2d the Marchetti Succession Question Pt 2

Clem

Take them with orange juice in the morning, not coffee. One small cup a day is fine, but that is your absolute Timit.”

I had already finished my single small cup of coffee for the day. I opened the refrigerator, pulled out the carton of orange juice, and poured myself a cold glass. I placed the little iron pill on my tongue and swallowed it with a big gulp of juice. I held onto the edge of the counter for a few seconds, closing my eyes until the slight wave of morning sickness passed.

Once my stomach settled, I picked up my phone from the counter and tapped the screen. The main page of the European Financial Review popped up right away.

There was a large, black headline across the top of the screen:

MARCHETTI GROUP ANNOUNCES SURPRISE BOARD APPOINTMENT Bella Black, formerly Hart, the eldest biological child of CEO Sebastien Marchetti, takes the non-executive seat effective immediately.

I scrolled down with my thumb, the white light of the screen reflecting. My eyes hit the secondary headline right below the main article:

NEW ARCHIVE TO PRESERVE ELAINE VOSS ARTWORK In a parallel statement, the Marchetti Group has funded a private foundation to catalog, protect, and display the complete artistic legacy of the late painter Elaine Voss.

I stopped scrolling. Seeing my mother’s name printed there, in clean, professional font on a major business site, made my throat feel tight.

Then, the numbers at the bottom of the article started to move. A little red box showing the comment count jumped from 12 to 84, then straight to 300. I tapped the comment section, and the screen filled with

text.

User9921: Is this a legal settlement to avoid a massive inheritance court battle?

MarketWatcher_FR: Wow. She built Hart Worldwide from nothing, now she is moving in on the Marchetti empire. This is a brilliant power play.

ParisBiz99: Illegitimate daughter comes home to claim the crown. Olivier Marchetti must be furious.

It was the exact same gossip that had followed me since I was young, just dressed up now in fancier, more expensive words.

۴

My phone began to buzz against the wood of the table, vibrating so hard the ceramic mug hummed.

[Unknown Number] Mrs. Black, this is Chloe from the London Financial Times. Do you have a comment on your sudden seat on the Marchetti board? Is this part of a legal settlement regarding your mother?

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