Chapter 3 - THE CLAUSE SOPHIA WAS TERRIFIED OF
I had thought divorce meant leaving with my dignity.
Apparently, it also meant detonating part of the Moretti empire.
Evelyn explained the clause the next morning.
Decades earlier, my grandfather Thomas Bennett entered a business partnership with Adrian’s grandfather.
The agreement created joint ownership over several legitimate companies.
Hotels.
Shipping terminals.
Commercial property.
Thomas feared the Morettis would eventually absorb everything.
So he inserted a protection.
If a Bennett descendant married into the Moretti family, certain voting rights would remain attached to the Bennett line.
And if that marriage ended because of documented infidelity or financial misconduct?
The Bennett spouse regained controlling voting rights over those assets.
Me.
I stared at Evelyn across the conference table.
“So if the divorce goes through…”
“You could control approximately thirty-one percent of Moretti Hospitality and seventeen percent of the shipping company.”
I almost laughed.
“I don’t want his companies.”
“That isn’t the point.”
“What is?”
“Someone does.”
Sophia.
The hotel shares transferred into her trust suddenly made sense.
She wasn’t borrowing slippers because she wanted to irritate me.
She had been testing how much she could take while Adrian trained me not to resist.
Dresses.
Jewelry.
Vacations.
Then money.
Then perhaps my legal position.
I felt sick.
“Did Adrian know about the succession clause?”
Evelyn looked at the documents.
“Yes.”
I closed my eyes.
“Before we married?”
“Yes.”
The pain was different now.
Colder.
I had spent three years asking myself why Adrian chose me when Sophia was always there.
Maybe love had never been the answer.
Then Evelyn slid another document toward me.
A prenuptial amendment.
My signature appeared at the bottom.
I stared.
“I never signed this.”
“I know.”
The amendment waived several of my Bennett rights.
Someone had forged my signature.
And the witness signature belonged to Sophia Lane.
My hands curled.
Then my phone rang.
Adrian.
This time I answered.
“What?”
Silence.
He clearly hadn’t expected that.
“Claire.”
“Say what you called to say.”
His voice softened.
“Come home.”
“No.”
“Please.”
That word surprised me.
Then he continued.
“We need to talk.”
“We had three years to talk.”
“This is about more than Sophia.”
“I know.”
Silence.
His breathing changed.
“What do you know?”
I looked at Evelyn.
She nodded.
“Enough.”
Adrian went quiet.
Then asked:
“Did someone tell you about the Bennett trust?”
There it was.
Confirmation.
My heart hardened.
“You knew.”
“Claire—”
“You knew before we married.”
“It isn’t what you think.”
I laughed.
“Men always say that right before explaining exactly what a woman thinks.”
“Please let me explain.”
“No.”
Then I asked the question I had been afraid to ask.
“Did you marry me because of the trust?”
Adrian went silent.
Too silent.
My eyes filled with tears.
May you like
Finally, he whispered:
“At first, yes.”
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