Chapter 7 - THE TRUST CREATED BEFORE OUR BABY EXISTED
The trust had been established in my unborn child's name before I ever knew I was pregnant.
When Rachel showed me the documents, I felt a chill move through my body.
"How could Anthony create a trust for a baby who hadn't been conceived?"
She turned the page.
"He didn't. The account was structured for any future child of Vincent and Claire Moretti."
I stared at the document.
"Then why hide it?"
"Because it was being used to move money."
My stomach tightened.
Anthony had created a financial vehicle under the pretense of protecting our future family.
But investigators believed he was using it to conceal unauthorized transfers.
The trust contained more than twenty million dollars.
Money taken from several Moretti subsidiaries.
And according to the agreement, control of those assets would eventually depend on the existence of a living child.
My hands shook.
"Is that why they wanted my pregnancy hidden?"
Rachel hesitated.
"We're still piecing together the motive."
I looked at Olivia.
She looked equally disturbed.
"Someone used the idea of my baby to steal money."
Rachel nodded.
"That's one possibility supported by the records."
I closed my eyes.
For a moment, grief nearly swallowed me.
Then I remembered the doctor's words.
There was nothing you could have done.
I'd needed to hear them.
Because some part of me kept wondering whether I should have noticed the pregnancy sooner.
Whether I should have taken a different road.
Whether I'd somehow failed our child.
Olivia reached for my hand.
"Claire, you didn't cause this."
I nodded through tears.
"I know."
But knowing and believing were different things.
That afternoon, Rachel arranged for a grief counselor to visit.
Her name was Dr. Melissa Grant.
She didn't ask me to move on.
She didn't tell me to forgive Vincent.
She simply listened.
And for the first time since the accident, I spoke about the baby.
"I never got to meet them," I whispered.
Dr. Grant nodded.
"That doesn't make the loss less real."
I cried.
Then I told her something I'd been too ashamed to admit.
"Part of me still wants Vincent."
She looked at me gently.
"That makes sense. You loved him for a long time."
"But I can't go back."
"You don't have to decide everything today."
Those words felt like permission to breathe.
Meanwhile, Vincent confronted Anthony at a private board meeting.
His uncle smiled when he entered.
"Vincent, I hear you're upset about some accounting issues."
Vincent placed the documents on the table.
"Explain."
Anthony glanced at them.
Then laughed.
"Standard corporate structuring."
"Using my unborn child's name?"
Anthony's expression changed.
For a moment, he looked genuinely surprised.
"Unborn child?"
Vincent stared at him.
"Claire was pregnant."
Anthony went completely still.
Then whispered:
"That's impossible."
Vincent's eyes narrowed.
"Why?"
Anthony looked toward the door.
His face drained of color.
"Because Vanessa told me Claire couldn't conceive."
Vincent stopped breathing.
Then Anthony said something that made the room turn cold.
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"Vincent, the accident wasn't supposed to happen until after she signed the merger documents."
And in that instant, Vincent realized his uncle knew far more about the planned attack than he'd admitted.
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