Chapter 5 - The Moretti Ledger
Adrian read the sentence again.
“My dear granddaughter…”
Emma watched his hands.
They trembled.
“Adrian?”
“I was an only child.”
Rachel looked at Marian, who had arrived under police protection ten minutes later.
The attorney looked exhausted.
“No,” Marian said quietly. “You weren’t.”
Adrian stared.
“My mother would have told me.”
“She tried.”
“When?”
“The week before she died.”
Adrian’s face tightened.
“She was barely conscious.”
“She was conscious enough to change the trust.”
Emma sat beside him.
Marian continued.
“Your parents had another son. Luca.”
Adrian said nothing.
“He was three years older than you.”
“I’ve never seen a photograph.”
“Dominic made certain of that.”
“Why?”
Marian looked toward Castillo.
The detective nodded for her to continue.
“Because Luca was supposed to inherit everything.”
Adrian laughed without humor.
“This is ridiculous.”
“Luca was your father’s firstborn.”
“So?”
“So your father planned to restructure the family holdings around him.”
“What happened?”
Marian hesitated.
“Luca died when he was eleven.”
Adrian’s expression shifted.
He was eight then.
He should remember.
Unless—
“I was sent to boarding school at eight.”
“Yes.”
“My mother said it was because of threats.”
“There were threats.”
“From whom?”
Marian’s eyes moved toward him.
“Dominic.”
The room went quiet.
Adrian stood.
Emma saw something in his face she had never seen before.
Fear from childhood.
Not adult danger.
Not business risk.
A boy realizing that the story of his own life had been edited.
“Why don’t I remember Luca?”
“You do.”
Adrian frowned.
Marian removed a photograph from the ledger folder.
Two boys stood beside Lake Michigan.
One maybe eleven.
One eight.
The younger one was unmistakably Adrian.
The older boy had his arm around him.
Adrian stared.
Then sat slowly.
“I dreamed about him.”
Emma touched his shoulder.
Adrian’s voice became distant.
“For years.”
“What dreams?”
“A boy pulling me out of water.”
Marian nodded.
“That was Luca.”
The accident happened at the Moretti family’s lake property.
Officially, Luca drowned.
In reality, according to Isabella’s private notes, Dominic had sabotaged a boat.
The intended victim was Adrian’s father.
Luca discovered the problem.
He pushed Adrian away from the dock during the confusion.
Then disappeared into the water.
“Dominic killed him?” Adrian whispered.
“We can’t prove he intended Luca to die,” Castillo said. “But your mother believed he caused the accident.”
“And she did nothing?”
“She spent the rest of her life gathering proof,” Marian said.
Adrian’s eyes turned hard.
Emma tightened her hand on his shoulder.
“Don’t.”
He looked at her.
She did not need to explain.
Don’t become the man they expect.
Adrian nodded.
The ledger contained decades of transactions.
Shell companies.
Payoffs.
False contracts.
And one repeated beneficiary.
Dominic Moretti.
The empire Adrian thought he controlled had been leaking money for years.
More importantly, the documents revealed a plan.
Dominic wanted Adrian unmarried.
Childless.
Eventually discredited.
Then removed from company leadership.
If Adrian died without a descendant, the trust structure made Dominic’s branch the largest voting bloc.
Emma’s pregnancy changed everything.
“That’s why he needed us apart,” Emma said.
Marian nodded.
“At first, yes.”
“At first?”
“When Rachel told him about the pregnancy, the plan changed.”
Adrian’s face went still.
“To what?”
Marian could not look at Emma.
“Dominic wanted proof of paternity.”
“Why?”
“Because if the baby wasn’t yours, he could challenge the trust.”
“And if she is?”
Marian’s silence answered.
Adrian stood.
Castillo immediately said, “Sit down.”
“My daughter—”
“Is protected.”
“By who?”
“Officers I trust.”
“You just said someone inside law enforcement may be compromised.”
“We narrowed the leak.”
“Who?”
“Captain Reeves.”
Adrian recognized the name.
“So arrest him.”
“We’re working on it.”
“Working?”
Emma stepped between them.
“Adrian.”
He stopped.
She took his face in both hands.
It was an intimate gesture.
One neither expected.
“Look at me.”
He did.
“You promised.”
His breathing slowed.
“I know.”
“Then keep it.”
He nodded.
Emma dropped her hands.
Rachel watched them with tears in her eyes.
Later, when Adrian left briefly with Castillo, Rachel approached Emma.
“You still love him.”
Emma looked at her sister.
“I’m angry with you.”
“I know.”
“Don’t change the subject.”
Rachel swallowed.
“I thought I was saving you.”
“You lied to me.”
“I know.”
“You watched me cry.”
“I know.”
“You knew I was pregnant and let me believe he didn’t want us.”
Rachel started sobbing.
Emma did not comfort her immediately.
“I need you to understand something,” Emma said. “Being afraid for me didn’t give you the right to decide my life.”
Rachel nodded.
“I know.”
“Do you?”
“Yes.”
Emma looked at her.
Rachel had always been protective.
After their parents died, Rachel practically raised her.
That made the betrayal worse.
But it also explained how Dominic manipulated her.
He found the exact weakness he needed.
Love mixed with fear.
The same weakness that destroyed Emma and Adrian.
Emma finally took Rachel’s hand.
“I’m not ready to forgive you.”
“I understand.”
“But I don’t want to lose you.”
Rachel cried harder.
“That’s more than I deserve.”
“Don’t decide that for me either.”
Rachel laughed through tears.
“Fair.”
That evening, Emma was moved under police protection to a private maternity floor.
Adrian refused to enter her room until she invited him.
She noticed.
“You can come in.”
He stood by the door.
“Are you sure?”
“Yes.”
He entered.
Emma was sitting upright in bed with monitoring bands around her stomach.
“The baby’s fine,” she said.
Adrian’s shoulders lowered.
“What did Castillo say?”
“They have enough to freeze Dominic’s accounts.”
“But not arrest him.”
“Not yet.”
Emma watched him.
“You want to go after him.”
“Yes.”
“Will you?”
“No.”
That answer came quickly.
“Why?”
“Because you asked me not to.”
Emma looked at him for a long time.
“You would really stay here while someone who threatened your child walks around free?”
“Staying is harder.”
She understood.
For Adrian, action had always been escape.
Sitting beside her required trust.
Adrian pulled a chair near the bed.
“Can I ask something?”
“Depends.”
“What are you naming her?”
Emma smiled despite herself.
“I haven’t decided.”
“Nothing Italian?”
“I considered Sofia.”
Adrian’s eyes softened.
“Really?”
“I liked her.”
“She liked you.”
Emma felt shame.
“I thought—”
“I know.”
They sat quietly.
“What about Isabella?” Adrian asked.
Emma raised one eyebrow.
“After your mother?”
“She would haunt me if I didn’t suggest it.”
Emma laughed.
Adrian smiled.
The sound surprised both of them.
For a few minutes, they were not divorced ex-spouses surrounded by police.
They were almost themselves.
Then the lights flickered.
Once.
Twice.
The fetal monitor reset.
Emma looked toward the door.
“Adrian?”
He stood.
His phone had no signal.
The hallway outside went strangely quiet.
He opened the door.
The police officer stationed outside was gone.
“Stay here.”
Emma grabbed his hand.
“No.”
A shadow crossed the far end of the corridor.
Then a familiar man stepped into view.
Silver hair.
Expensive coat.
Warm smile.
Dominic Moretti looked toward Adrian and raised both hands.
“Easy, nephew.”
Adrian moved in front of Emma’s room.
Dominic smiled wider.
May you like
“I only came to meet the newest Moretti.”
Then the maternity ward doors locked behind him.
