Chapter 6 - THE BROTHER WHO LOST EVERYTHING
Adrien read the document three times.
Nothing changed.
Luca Moretti had been born three years before Adrien.
Their father, Alessandro Moretti, had hidden the truth through falsified records and private adoption papers.
“Why?” I asked.
Adrien looked numb.
Vanessa continued reading.
The answer was worse.
Luca was Alessandro’s biological son.
But not his wife’s.
His mother had been Sofia Bellini, the daughter of Alessandro’s greatest business rival.
A scandal at the time would have destroyed a merger worth hundreds of millions.
So Luca had been quietly placed with relatives for three years, then brought into the Moretti household under a fabricated birth record after Sofia died.
Adrien’s mother raised him as her own.
“But why tell everyone Luca was younger?” I asked.
“Succession,” Adrien said.
His voice had become cold again.
“The first legitimate son inherited voting control.”
Meaning Adrien.
Luca had spent his entire life believing he was second because he was younger.
In reality, he had been made second deliberately.
Vanessa found another clause.
If Luca’s true birth order ever became public, he could challenge certain older family holdings.
But the modern trust had one overriding provision:
Control remained with Adrien’s direct descendants.
My unborn child.
I sat down.
“So this baby ends Luca’s claim permanently.”
“Yes,” Adrien said.
That single word frightened me.
My pregnancy wasn’t merely family news.
It was a corporate earthquake.
Adrien closed the laptop.
“I’m getting you out of New York.”
“No.”
His jaw tightened.
“Elena.”
“I am not spending the rest of this pregnancy hidden because your family lies to itself.”
“This isn’t about pride.”
“Neither is mine.”
For a moment we were husband and wife again, arguing the way we used to—before every disagreement became silence.
Then Vanessa’s phone rang.
Luca.
She answered on speaker.
“Where are you?”
His voice sounded strangely calm.
“You stole something that belongs to me.”
“It belonged to your father.”
“No. It was about me.”
Adrien leaned toward the phone.
“Then come talk to me.”
Luca laughed.
“My little brother finally read the truth.”
Adrien flinched at the word little.
“You accessed Elena’s medical records.”
“I did.”
“You sent the hotel photo.”
“No.”
Everyone went still.
Adrien’s eyes narrowed.
“You expect me to believe that?”
“I don’t care what you believe. I wanted to know whether Elena was pregnant because the trust changes if she is. I never sent her anything.”
“Then who did?”
Luca hesitated.
For the first time, fear entered his voice.
“If someone sent Elena that picture, the problem is bigger than me.”
“Who?”
“Our father didn’t build the succession protocol alone.”
“He’s dead.”
“Yes.”
Luca paused.
“But his lawyer isn’t.”
Adrien’s face changed.
I knew the name before he said it.
Thomas Vale.
Adrien’s godfather.
Our family attorney.
The man who had officiated the private signing of our marriage license.
Luca continued.
“And Elena, you should know something else.”
“What?”
“You think you met Adrien by accident seven years ago.”
My chest tightened.
“You didn’t.”
Adrien turned toward me.
May you like
Luca’s next words shattered what remained of the room.
“Your marriage was arranged before Adrien ever introduced himself to you.”
