The Lost Ricci: Heir Back from the Dead
Dante Moretti's world shatters in a single night. Fired from his job, he arrives at his wife's birthday party only to witness the ultimate betrayal—Giulia kissing Leonardo Greco, his former boss, in front of everyone.
"This was never going to work. We're from different worlds," Giulia says coldly, flaunting the emerald ring that replaced Dante's wedding band.
Her mother delivers the final blow: "Giulia is pregnant. With Leonardo's child, of course."
Homeless and broken, Dante is kidnapped by a mysterious woman who drops an impossible truth: "You're my brother. The long-lost heir to Apex Crown Holdings."
His real name is Ryan Ricci. The "worthless" husband is actually a billionaire heir.
"I don't want handouts," Dante tells his dying sister Selena and bedridden father Pietro. "I want to earn it."
Going undercover as a lowly employee in his own company, Dante begins his transformation. But Leonardo and Giulia are plotting to manipulate the "naive" new heir, unaware their target is the man they destroyed.
"Naive people are easy to manipulate, don't you think?" Leonardo smirks.
He has no idea who's really playing whom.
When the scorned rises from the ashes, everyone pays.
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Chapter: Chapter 8: Giulia's Manipulation Giulia Bronson moved through the lobby of Golden Fingers like she owned it, her five-inch Louboutin heels clicking against polished marble with each calculated step. The body-fitted maxi dress she wore—cream-colored with strategic cutouts—hugged every curve, leaving little to the imagination. Her milky skin practically glowed, and her protruding cleavage drew eyes like a magnet. The plunging neckline showcased a diamond pendant that cost more than most people's cars.She was an illusion of gorgeousness and sophistication, and she knew it.Every head in the lobby turned as she passed. Conversations stuttered to a halt. Her flowery cologne—something expensive and French—filled the air, announcing her presence before she even spoke. Workers pressed themselves against walls to let her pass, murmuring greetings with forced respect."Good morning, Ms. Bronson.""Congratulations on your engagement, Ms. Bronson.""You look beautiful today, Ms. Bronson."Giulia smiled graciously at each greeti
Last Updated: 2025-11-27
Chapter: Chapter 7: Undercover at Apex CrownThe office of Stone Contracting Services occupied a cramped corner on the third floor of a run-down building that smelled of stale coffee and broken dreams. Tazio Stone sat behind a cluttered desk, his fingers working through his straggly beard like he was searching for loose change. His eyes, small and calculating, assessed Dante with the predatory interest of someone who made money off other people's labor."Dante Wellington," Tazio read from the resume in front of him, his half-broken teeth showing through a wide smile. "Good credentials. Decent grades. And look at you—handsome too. The ladies are going to love you."Dante forced a polite smile, suppressing the urge to grimace at the man's appearance. Tazio's bald head reflected the fluorescent lights, and his suit—though expensive—hung awkwardly on his thin frame, like he'd bought it two sizes too large to appear more important than he was."Thank you, sir," Dante said evenly."We're a part-time contracting company," Tazio explain
Last Updated: 2025-11-27
Chapter: Chapter 6: Selena's Awakening and Bella's BetrayalSelena Ricci's eyes fluttered open to sterile white ceiling tiles and the rhythmic beeping of medical monitors. Her chest rose and fell with shallow breaths, each one a small victory against the cancer eating away at her from the inside. A sigh of relief escaped her cracked lips—she was still alive.Alive. After everything.The weight that had pressed on her chest for months lifted slightly. She'd done it. Against all odds, against time itself, she'd fulfilled her duty. Pietro had his son back. Ryan was home. The Ricci family was whole again, or as whole as it could be with her dying and their mother long buried.The Ricci family had given her everything—a name, a fortune, a purpose when she'd had nothing. Adopted at eight years old from circumstances she tried not to remember, Selena had sworn to repay their kindness. Finding Ryan had been her final gift, her last act of devotion before the cancer claimed her.She'd missed their reunion. That stung more than she wanted to admit. Whil
Last Updated: 2025-11-27
Chapter: Chapter 5: Father and Son ReunionThe private medical suite occupied the entire third floor of the Ricci mansion, outfitted with equipment that belonged in a state-of-the-art hospital rather than a residence. Monitors beeped softly, tracking vital signs with clinical precision. Sunlight filtered through sheer curtains, casting gentle shadows across the figure in the hospital bed.Pietro Ricci lay motionless except for the slight rise and fall of his chest. At seventy-three, he was a shadow of the man in the portrait downstairs—his once-powerful frame diminished by illness, his face gaunt and pale against white pillows. But his eyes, those sharp gray eyes that Dante had seen in his own reflection that morning, were fully alert.Selena stood beside Dante at the doorway, her expression unreadable. "He's been waiting since dawn," she said quietly. "I told him you'd come."Dante's throat felt tight. This stranger was supposedly his father. The man who'd lost him at a carousel twenty-five years ago, who'd searched for him a
Last Updated: 2025-11-27
Chapter: Chapter 4: Power ShiftsLeonardo Greco stood at the floor-to-ceiling windows of his penthouse office, his jaw clenched tight enough to crack teeth. The city sprawled beneath him like a kingdom he'd conquered through ambition and ruthlessness, but right now, none of it felt like enough."That pathetic worm," he muttered, his reflection showing eyes burning with disgust. "Two years. You were married to that worthless piece of trash for two years."Behind him, Giulia reclined on the leather sofa, examining her emerald engagement ring with the detached interest of someone appraising a moderately interesting painting. She'd changed into one of Leonardo's shirts—an intimate gesture that usually pleased him. Tonight, it only reminded him that she'd once worn another man's clothes."Leo, darling," Giulia's voice was smooth as silk, practiced in the art of manipulation. "You're being dramatic. Dante was nothing. A mistake I made when I was a silly girl, carried away by fake looks and empty promises.""A mistake that
Last Updated: 2025-11-27
Chapter: Chapter 3: Back From the DeadDante pushed the tablet away, his head spinning. "This is insane. You've got the wrong person. My mother—she raised me. I have baby pictures, birth certificates—""DNA doesn't lie, Dante." Selena's voice remained infuriatingly calm as she set the tablet on the pristine white side table. "Or should I say, Ryan? Ryan Ricci.""My name is Dante Moretti," he insisted, his voice rising. "I don't know what kind of scam you're running, but—""We lost you at an amusement park." Selena cut him off, her tone flat and matter-of-fact. "Ocean World. Twenty-five years ago. You were three years old. My father had you on the carousel, turned away for thirty seconds to buy cotton candy, and when he looked back, you were gone. We searched for months. Years. Hired every private investigator on the East Coast."Dante's throat tightened. He had vague memories of a carousel, of bright lights and music, but they were fragments—the kind of early childhood memories that could belong to anyone."That doesn't pr
Last Updated: 2025-11-27
