Chapter 4 - THE CHILD THEY DIDN'T WANT BORN
My baby had been eight weeks old.
A heartbeat I'd never heard.
A future I'd never known existed.
And now someone was suggesting that child had been the target of a deliberate attack.
I sat in Olivia's living room while Rachel explained what investigators had uncovered.
"Claire, we need to consider that the crash may have been intentional."
My hands went cold.
"Because of my pregnancy?"
"We don't know yet."
I closed my eyes.
I wanted to scream.
Instead, I asked one question.
"How would anyone have known?"
I'd only suspected I was pregnant.
I hadn't taken the test.
I hadn't told Vincent.
I hadn't told Olivia.
But two weeks earlier, I'd visited my gynecologist because I was unusually tired.
The doctor had ordered routine bloodwork.
Could someone have accessed those results?
Rachel arranged for the clinic to review its records.
By afternoon, we had an answer.
Someone using credentials associated with a medical billing contractor had accessed my laboratory results.
The access occurred four days before the accident.
The contractor was linked to a company called Meridian Health Solutions.
I recognized the name.
Vanessa had recommended Meridian for Vincent's corporate healthcare program.
My stomach twisted.
She'd used her position to get close to my medical information.
But why?
Rachel contacted investigators with the findings.
Meanwhile, Vincent arrived at his company's headquarters demanding a full review of the Reed Freight acquisition.
His chief financial officer, Thomas Grant, looked nervous.
"Vincent, it's a legitimate transportation business."
"Then why wasn't I informed about the purchase?"
"Vanessa handled the transaction."
Vincent stared.
"Vanessa isn't authorized to acquire companies without board approval."
Thomas swallowed.
"The paperwork shows approval."
"Whose?"
Thomas hesitated.
"Yours."
Vincent grabbed the document.
His signature appeared at the bottom.
But the authorization date was impossible.
He'd been in Tokyo that day.
The electronic approval had supposedly been completed from his office in Chicago.
He looked up.
"Someone forged my authorization."
Thomas went pale.
Then Vincent noticed another name on the document.
A minority shareholder.
Thirty percent ownership.
Claire Bennett Moretti.
He stared at it.
"Why is my wife listed here?"
Thomas looked away.
"I assumed you knew."
Vincent's pulse quickened.
"Knew what?"
"Claire inherited a significant ownership interest in several Moretti subsidiaries under your marriage settlement."
Vincent froze.
"What settlement?"
Thomas opened another file.
A trust document.
Signed seven years earlier.
Before Vincent became wealthy.
Before Vanessa joined the company.
Before his marriage began falling apart.
The document showed that Claire's father had invested in Vincent's first business venture.
And in return, he'd received a protected share of the company's future profits.
Vincent stared at the signature.
Robert Bennett.
Claire's late father.
Then Thomas revealed something worse.
"Sir, someone filed paperwork last month attempting to transfer Claire's ownership rights."
Vincent stopped breathing.
"To whom?"
Thomas looked terrified.
"Vanessa Reed."
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And beneath the transfer request was a handwritten instruction.
Complete before Mrs. Moretti's pregnancy becomes public.
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