Chapter 6 - THE ENGAGEMENT WAS NEVER ABOUT SLOANE
Sloane came voluntarily.
Her father did not.
We met in a private conference room.
No guns.
No threats.
Lawyers nearby.
Elena insisted.
I liked the influence she was having on me.
Sloane placed an old envelope on the table.
“My father gave me this two months ago.”
Inside was a prenuptial agreement.
Not unusual.
The hidden appendix was.
Upon marriage, certain Barrett financial facilities would refinance Moretti Harbor Trust debt.
In exchange, Barrett Holdings gained preferred access to shipping assets.
And if I died without recognized heirs?
Sloane inherited significant control.
I looked at her.
“You were being positioned to inherit.”
“I didn't know.”
“Did you read this?”
“The appendix wasn't in my copy.”
Her voice shook with anger.
Good.
At least someone else was finally furious at their parent.
Elena asked:
“Why was William watching my children?”
Sloane swallowed.
“My father has been obsessed with Dominic producing heirs.”
“That is a deeply strange sentence,” I said.
Nobody laughed.
Sloane continued.
William believed the boys could destroy a decades-old agreement between himself, Victor, and my mother.
My mother.
Again.
“What agreement?”
She didn't know.
But she had a key to her father's private office.
That evening, federal-style restraint won over my normal methods.
We didn't break in.
Sloane accessed records she legally had permission to review as an executive of Barrett Holdings.
There we found scanned contracts.
Thirty-one years old.
My grandfather had borrowed heavily after a shipping collapse.
William Barrett's father saved the Moretti companies.
In exchange, the Barretts received hidden options over Moretti assets if no direct fourth-generation male heirs were recognized before my fortieth birthday.
I was thirty-seven.
My sons were six.
The moment legally recognized, the Barrett option effectively died.
My mother and Victor had benefited from preserving the old structure because they controlled the current trust.
Sloane sank into a chair.
“My father wanted me to marry you so the Barretts could keep influence even if the boys appeared.”
“Yes.”
She looked sick.
“I thought he wanted me happy.”
Elena's expression softened.
Parents and control.
Recurring theme.
Then we found an email dated six years earlier.
From William to Victor.
C. has handled the girl. A. still suspects. Finish this before D. learns there are four.
C.
Caterina.
A.
Anthony.
D.
Me.
Victor answered:
The hospital records will be corrected.
Elena stared.
“What hospital records?”
Arthur searched.
The boys' original birth certificates listed father:
UNKNOWN.
Standard.
But another document existed in the state system.
A paternity acknowledgment had been submitted weeks after birth.
With my forged signature.
Then withdrawn.
Someone had briefly tried to legally establish me as the father six years ago.
The filing came from Boston.
The attorney responsible?
May you like
Patricia Moretti.
My younger sister.
