Chapter 4 - THE MARRIAGE THAT BEGAN AS A BUSINESS DEAL
There are answers you think you want until you hear them.
At first, yes.
Four words.
Three years of marriage reduced to strategy.
I ended the call.
Then I went into Evelyn’s restroom and threw up.
When I returned, my hands were still shaking.
“He married me for money.”
Evelyn looked carefully at me.
“He said at first.”
“That doesn’t make it better.”
“No.”
For once, nobody asked me to see Adrian’s side.
It felt like oxygen.
By noon, the divorce petition was formally filed.
Adultery.
Financial misconduct.
Forgery under investigation.
I didn’t ask for revenge.
I asked for separation.
Transparency.
And control over my own property.
At 2:17 p.m., Adrian’s attorney called Evelyn.
At 2:25, Adrian called me.
At 2:31, Sophia texted.
You’re making a mistake.
I almost laughed.
Then another message arrived.
Adrian will never forgive you for destroying his family.
I typed:
You can have the leftovers.
Then blocked her.
It was childish.
It was also satisfying.
That afternoon, my sister Caroline came to the hotel.
She took one look at me and hugged me.
“No questions?”
“Later.”
I cried against her shoulder.
Then she ordered pizza and made me eat.
That was when my life started feeling real again.
Not diamonds.
Not private chefs.
Pizza from a cardboard box.
My sister beside me.
Freedom.
Then, at 9:40 p.m., someone knocked.
Hotel security called first.
“Mrs. Moretti, Mr. Adrian Moretti is downstairs.”
My stomach tightened.
“Do not send him up.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
Ten minutes later, Adrian texted.
I’m leaving.
Then:
I won’t force you to see me.
I stared at that sentence.
The old Adrian would have come upstairs anyway.
Maybe he finally understood I was serious.
Then a third message arrived.
But please ask Evelyn to check the dates on Sophia’s trust.
I frowned.
I opened the records.
The first transfer occurred two years earlier.
The second, eleven months earlier.
The third, six weeks ago.
Then I noticed something.
The authorizing officer wasn’t Adrian.
It was his father.
Lorenzo Moretti.
A man who had supposedly died eighteen months earlier.
My pulse quickened.
I called Evelyn.
“Lorenzo signed the last transfer after his death.”
Silence.
Then she whispered:
“That’s impossible.”
I stared at the document.
Then remembered Adrian’s words.
It isn’t what you think.
A chill ran through me.
Evelyn ran another search.
Five minutes later, she called back.
Her voice had changed.
“Claire, Lorenzo Moretti’s death certificate was never filed with the state.”
I stopped breathing.
“What?”
“His family held a private funeral, but legally…”
She paused.
“There is no record confirming he died.”
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And suddenly the divorce was connected to something far more dangerous than Sophia.
Adrian’s father might still be alive.
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