Chapter 3 - THE DOCUMENT I NEVER SIGNED
Rachel moved me into a private hotel suite while police and medical staff finished documentation.
Phoebe stayed with me.
Luca was told not to enter.
For once, a locked door meant safety instead of fear.
Then Rachel’s phone rang.
Hartwell’s general counsel.
He wanted to know whether I had signed a spousal voting proxy.
“No.”
He paused.
“Then we have a serious problem.”
A proxy had been submitted that morning.
Wedding morning.
My electronic signature appeared at the bottom.
Authorization granted limited voting authority to:
LUCA MORETTI.
I stared.
“I never signed that.”
Rachel looked at me.
“Were you asked to sign any electronic documents this week?”
One.
The final wedding-vendor authorization.
Luca had sent it from his laptop.
“Sign this tonight,” he had said. “The venue needs confirmation.”
I had opened a document.
One page.
Vendor language.
Digital signature.
Done.
Rachel asked Hartwell counsel to preserve metadata.
Then she requested the copy I had signed.
The file I received on my phone had one page.
The file submitted to Hartwell had four.
My signature had been attached to a different document package.
Phoebe whispered:
“Oh my God.”
I felt strangely calm.
Fear had already burned through me.
Now came numbers.
Times.
Evidence.
The proxy submission originated from Moretti Capital’s corporate network.
Uploaded by:
DANIEL KRESS.
Vincent’s executive assistant.
Luca stood to receive authority if it were accepted.
But because Hartwell required independent verification, the proxy had not yet become effective.
The wedding needed to happen first.
Then verification.
That explained the timing.
Then Hartwell counsel said:
“There’s another issue.”
A letter had been attached.
Supposedly from me.
It stated:
My husband and I share a unified investment strategy and I wish him to represent our household interests.
I had never written it.
Rachel looked at me.
“You need to notify your board immediately.”
I did.
No drama.
One secure call.
Proxy disputed.
Voting authority frozen.
Any action under my name required direct confirmation.
Then Luca texted Phoebe because I had blocked him.
Tell Jessi she is destroying my family over frosting.
Phoebe showed me.
I almost laughed.
Then another message arrived.
From Luca’s brother Marco.
DON’T GO HOME.
I stared.
Marco and I barely spoke.
I replied:
WHY?
Three dots.
Then:
LUCA MOVED SOMETHING INTO YOUR HOUSE THIS MORNING.
My stomach tightened.
WHAT?
Marco answered:
May you like
A SAFE.
And according to him, Vincent had personally delivered it before the wedding.
