Chapter 10 - The Empty Estate
Frank’s disappearance became public within hours.
His attorneys claimed he was traveling.
Investigators disagreed.
Several financial records were missing.
So was Frank’s passport.
Damon feared the worst.
Vivian feared something different.
“He’ll contact the children.”
“Why?”
“Because he’s losing control everywhere else.”
She was right.
The package arrived two days later.
No return address.
Inside were two boxes.
One for Leo.
One for Olivia.
Vivian called Rebecca before opening them.
Inside Leo’s box was his original Rossetti signet ring.
Inside Olivia’s was the ring Vivian had taken from the party.
There was also a letter.
One of you deserves the name. Decide.
Vivian felt physically ill.
Even from hiding, Frank was trying to continue the game.
Leo stared at the rings.
“I don’t want mine.”
Olivia nodded.
“Me neither.”
Damon asked, “What should we do with them?”
Leo had an idea.
They took both rings to Samuel Bell.
The old jeweler listened carefully.
“You want them melted?”
Leo looked at Olivia.
“Yes.”
Samuel smiled.
“What should I make?”
The children had already decided.
“Two stars.”
Weeks later, Samuel gave them two small gold pendants.
No Rossetti crest.
No initials.
Just stars.
Leo gave one to Olivia.
Olivia gave the other to Leo.
Vivian cried.
Frank had created rings to divide them.
The children transformed them into symbols of friendship.
The story might have ended there.
But real consequences were still coming.
Frank was eventually located abroad and returned through legal channels to face the investigation.
The case moved slowly.
Vivian refused to make it the center of Leo’s life.
Months passed.
The Rossetti estate sold.
The carnival post disappeared.
The company stabilized under independent leadership.
Damon found work outside his father’s direct control for the first time.
He hated being treated like an ordinary employee.
Then discovered he also loved it.
Nobody cared whose son he was.
They cared whether he did his job.
At home, he and Vivian began counseling.
Some sessions were painful.
Vivian told him she had stopped trusting him long before the birthday party.
Damon admitted he had spent years prioritizing Frank’s approval over his marriage.
Neither pretended love erased those failures.
But both kept showing up.
One night, after Leo went to sleep, Damon asked, “Do you think we’re going to make it?”
Vivian looked at him.
“I think we’re making it today.”
He nodded.
That was enough.
The following weekend, Claire and Olivia came for dinner.
The children ran through the backyard.
At one point Leo tied a ribbon loosely around a tree.
Vivian froze.
Then Leo hung a handmade sign from it.
NO MEAN GAMES.
Olivia added:
EVER.
Vivian laughed.
The past had not disappeared.
It had simply lost its power to dictate the future.
But one final question remained.
Why had Frank become the man he was?
The answer arrived unexpectedly when Damon received a box from storage at the sold estate.
Inside was a photograph of Frank as a little boy.
He was standing beside another child.
On the back were six words:
Frank and Thomas. Only one inherits.
Damon stared at it.
“Thomas?”
He had never heard the name.
Vivian turned the photograph over again.
May you like
Frank had once been one of two children.
And apparently, long before Leo and Olivia, there had been another game.
