Chapter 5 - THE EIGHTY-SIX-MILLION-DOLLAR CHILD
Emily was seven years old and apparently worth eighty-six million dollars.
I wanted to laugh.
Instead, I wanted to run.
Madison showed me the trust documents in a private hotel suite later that afternoon.
The trust had been established four days after Emily’s birth.
Original grantor:
Giovanni Moretti.
Vincent’s grandfather.
The legendary founder of the Moretti shipping dynasty.
The man had died six years ago.
“Why would Giovanni create a trust for Emily?” I asked.
Vincent stood across the room.
“He knew she was mine.”
I looked at him.
“How?”
“I called him from the hospital.”
That surprised me.
“When?”
“After she was born.”
I remembered Vincent walking away.
Remembered the empty hallway.
The curtain.
The silence.
“You called your grandfather?”
“Yes.”
“What did you say?”
Vincent’s eyes lowered.
“That I had a daughter.”
My anger returned.
“So you could acknowledge her to him, just not to me?”
His face tightened.
“I have no defense.”
At least he had stopped trying to build one.
Madison tapped the documents.
“Giovanni created identical trusts for every direct biological descendant.”
Vincent looked up.
“Lucas had one.”
“Correct.”
“How much?”
“Eighty-six million.”
Sophia paled.
Madison continued.
“Except Lucas’s trust contains a biological-heir clause.”
Dominic cursed softly.
“What happens now?”
“If the trustees learn Lucas is not Vincent’s biological son, his trust becomes inactive.”
Sophia stared.
“And the money?”
Madison looked toward Emily.
“It transfers to the next verified biological descendant.”
Emily.
My stomach turned.
“That would give her one hundred seventy-two million dollars.”
“Yes.”
“No.”
Everyone looked at me.
“I don’t want it.”
Madison softened her voice.
“It isn’t yours to refuse. It belongs to Emily.”
I looked at Vincent.
“Who are the trustees?”
His expression changed.
“Anthony.”
Of course.
“And?”
“My father.”
“Your father is dead.”
“Yes.”
“So Anthony controls it alone?”
“For now.”
Madison shook her head.
“Not exactly.”
She opened another document.
“Giovanni included an emergency successor trustee.”
“Who?”
“Claire Bennett Moretti.”
I stared.
“Me?”
Vincent looked equally surprised.
Madison nodded.
“Giovanni apparently amended the trust six months before he died.”
“But I was already divorced.”
“Yes.”
“Why would he choose me?”
Vincent answered quietly.
“Because he respected you.”
I remembered Giovanni.
Cold.
Formidable.
One of the few Morettis who never treated me like decorative furniture.
At our wedding, he had said:
Don’t let these men make you smaller.
I had thought it was a joke.
Apparently not.
Madison leaned forward.
“Claire, if Anthony knew Emily was Vincent’s biological daughter, he knew the trust existed.”
“And?”
“And if he successfully erased her legal paternity record, he could argue she wasn’t eligible.”
Vincent’s eyes sharpened.
“Where would her trust go?”
“Back into the Moretti family holding company.”
“Controlled by?”
Madison looked at him.
“Anthony.”
The room went cold.
Vincent turned toward his security chief, Matteo Russo.
“Find my uncle.”
Matteo made a call.
Five minutes later, his expression changed.
“He left Chicago this morning.”
“Where?”
“Private jet.”
“Destination?”
“Geneva.”
Vincent swore.
Madison suddenly looked at her laptop.
“Wait.”
“What?”
“There’s been activity on Emily’s trust.”
My heart stopped.
“What kind?”
“Someone initiated an emergency liquidation.”
Vincent crossed the room.
“How much?”
Madison’s face drained.
“All of it.”
“Can they do that?”
“Not without two trustee authorizations.”
“Anthony only has one.”
She looked at me.
“Exactly.”
I stared at the screen.
Then saw the second signature.
My name.
Claire Bennett Moretti.
I had never signed anything.
Vincent looked at me.
“He forged you too.”
Madison shook her head.
“No.”
She enlarged the digital certification.
“This wasn’t forged.”
“What do you mean?”
“It was authenticated using Claire’s original biometric signature.”
My blood turned cold.
“I’ve never given Anthony biometric access.”
Vincent’s eyes narrowed.
“Someone did.”
Madison traced the authorization source.
Then stopped.
“Oh my God.”
“What?”
She looked at me.
“The biometric record came from St. Catherine’s Hospital.”
The hospital where I gave birth.
Seven years ago.
May you like
And the person who had requested access to my maternity records was listed under one name.
Sophia Reynolds.
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