The Forgotten Heiress Who Took It All Back

Aria’s POV

“How much?” I asked, my voice steady.

“You tell me!” Father’s voice raised in anger. “How could I raise a daughter like you—stealing from your own family? If not for you handing over the casino to Emily, how long would we have waited before uncovering this?”

Damian intervened, his tone soothing. “Mr. Moretti, calm down. I believe Aria, and I think there’s more to this than we can see.” Then, turning to me with that same soft gaze, he added, “Aria, please, tell us. Did you need the money? You could have asked me or Mr. Moretti. You can’t just take it.”

“Are you two finished?” I asked, my voice cold as I walked toward the table. I pulled out my wallet, extracting a few cards. “This is my debit card. This includes my savings account. This is my credit card.”

Father raised an eyebrow, clearly confused.

“Run the test,” I said coolly. “See if the missing funds are in those accounts. If you don’t find anything, maybe the real thief is still out there.”

Father scoffed. “The real thief? Who could have gotten into the casino’s money except you?”

I smiled, smooth as ever. “Oh, I don’t know. Maybe you. Or mother. Or, perhaps…” I leaned in, my gaze locking with Emily’s, who flinched for just a moment. “Our innocent Emily?”

Emily jumped up, her eyes brimming with tears. “How could I?”

“How could you?” I let out a sharp, cold laugh. “I don’t know. Maybe when you signed the paper, you realized it was one more opportunity to set me up. You’re capable of many things, Emily. You may not have been born a Moretti, but you’ve certainly inherited the family spirit.”

Before I could even finish, a hard slap landed across my cheek.

Father’s hand remained suspended in the air, his face a mask of fury, but when I met his eyes, he quickly looked away.

“I said, don’t ever make fun of Emily when it comes to family. She is our daughter and your sister. Why do you insist on making her an outsider after all these years? What has she done to hurt you?”

The sting of the slap was sharp, but it was the constant ache of my family’s disdain that truly burned. I had always been the one to blame when things went wrong, the one they turned on the moment anything got messy.

If they’d bothered to find out when the funds went missing, or just trusted me once more, everything could have turned out differently.

“Yes, she’s done nothing to hurt me. Let me take a guess, Emily. You’re the one who found the missing funds and told Father and Damian, right?”

“Aria, I—”

“You don’t have to defend her. I found it.” Damian interrupted, ever the gentleman, ever the protector.

“Don’t get all protective, Damian.” My voice hardened, sharper than I intended. “I’m only asking Emily now.”

“Aria, I didn’t know Father would react like this,” Emily stammered, “I talked to him about the money… I thought you might need it, and that—”

“So I should thank you for this?” I let out another bitter laugh.

“What’s with that arrogant tone?” Father scoffed. “Emily was only trying to help you. You’re stubborn and closed off. She’s worried that if you really had troubles, you wouldn’t tell us!”

As I looked at the three of them standing in front of me, two of them too blind to understand the truth and one actress, trying to weave her dirty secrets into a trap, hoping it would break me.

The only reason I signed that damn paper and chose to leave the Moretti was because I was done with them—not the other way around.

I chuckled softly, a hollow sound. “Alright. I appreciate Emily’s concern. I’ve left my cards here. The password is my birthday. Use the funds in there to fill the casino’s missing money.”

“So you admit it? You stole the money?” Father’s voice was a mix of disbelief and outrage.

“No. I don’t. But whether I admit it or not, the result will be the same. So we may as well sort this out now.”

With that, I turned and yanked the door open.

“Aria!” Father’s voice, sharp and pained, called after me.

I turned to face him. His face was contorted, as if he were choking on his own words. He probably wanted to apologize for slapping me, but instead, all I got was, “Don’t act so childish. Come home for dinner tonight. After all, you’ll be gone tomorrow.”

Huh. That was it.

I walked out the door without looking back. “No need. I already have plans.”

And my plans didn’t include having dinner with a family that had chosen a liar over their own daughter.