Chapter 7 - THE SECRET IN MICHAEL’S SHARES
Emma almost laughed.
“My baby is not a Moretti.”
Luca said nothing.
That silence frightened her.
“What?”
William stood abruptly.
“We’re finished.”
Luca blocked the door.
“No.”
William stared at him.
“You don’t know what you’re doing.”
“I know exactly what you’re afraid of.”
Emma’s voice sharpened.
“Someone explain.”
Luca looked at her.
“Michael Hayes’s shares were not ordinary shares.”
“So?”
“They were founder-class.”
“What does that mean?”
“Voting rights.”
“How many?”
“Twelve percent ownership. Twenty-two percent voting authority.”
Emma stared.
“That makes no sense.”
“It was designed that way.”
“By who?”
“My grandfather.”
Luca explained that the early restaurant company had four key founders.
Vittorio Moretti supplied capital.
William Morrison handled finance.
Michael Hayes handled operations and legitimate banking.
A fourth partner remained unnamed in public records.
Emma asked:
“Who?”
Luca hesitated.
“My mother.”
Emma frowned.
“What does that have to do with my daughter’s DNA?”
Luca took a breath.
“My mother, Sofia Moretti, owned twelve percent too.”
“Okay.”
“When she died, her shares transferred back to the family.”
“So?”
William said:
“Enough.”
Emma turned.
“No. You’ve had fourteen years of enough.”
Luca continued.
“There was a private agreement between Sofia and Michael.”
“What agreement?”
“If one family line ended, the other inherited certain voting rights.”
Emma stared.
“Family line?”
Luca looked uncomfortable for the first time.
“My mother and your father were related.”
Emma went still.
“How?”
“Half siblings.”
Silence.
Emma’s knees weakened.
Luca moved forward.
She raised one hand.
He stopped.
“Explain.”
“My grandfather had an affair before marrying my grandmother.”
Emma stared.
“Michael?”
“Was his son.”
Her mouth went dry.
“My father was Vittorio Moretti’s half brother?”
Luca nodded.
Which made Michael Luca’s uncle.
Which made Emma—
“Your cousin.”
“Yes.”
Brittany whispered:
“Oh my God.”
Emma suddenly understood Luca’s reaction to the baby.
Not romance.
Recognition.
Family.
Her daughter was Luca Moretti’s blood relative.
William sat down slowly.
Emma looked at him.
“You knew.”
“Yes.”
“How long?”
“Since before Michael died.”
“Did Derek?”
William remained silent.
Derek looked toward the floor.
Emma’s voice became colder.
“Did Derek know I was related to the Morettis when he started dating me?”
“Yes,” William said.
The answer came from the father.
Derek snapped:
“Dad.”
Too late.
Emma stared at the man she almost married.
“So I wasn’t only an inheritance.”
Derek looked at her.
“Emma—”
“I was access to Moretti voting power.”
Luca’s expression became lethal.
That was the first moment Emma understood how valuable those shares might be.
Not money.
Control.
If Michael’s bloodline survived through Emma and her daughter, the founder agreement might give them influence over parts of the legitimate Moretti hospitality holdings.
William had wanted that influence inside the Morrison family.
Derek had been the bridge.
Emma’s baby was the proof.
That was why the genetic material mattered.
Luca looked at William.
“You tried to confirm Moretti lineage before Emma even knew it existed.”
William replied:
“I was protecting investments.”
Luca’s voice became dangerously quiet.
“From a newborn?”
William did not answer.
Then Emma’s daughter began crying behind the nursery glass.
Emma turned immediately.
Everything else disappeared.
Inheritance.
Mafia families.
Old partnerships.
She only saw her baby.
The nurse brought her out.
Emma held her carefully.
The child settled against her chest.
Luca watched.
His face changed.
Family recognition, perhaps.
Or grief.
Then William spoke.
“You should think before you walk away from us.”
Emma looked over her daughter’s head.
“Us?”
“The Morrisons.”
She almost smiled.
“There is no us.”
William’s jaw tightened.
“If you cut Derek out, the legal challenge becomes ugly.”
“Then let it.”
“You could lose years fighting.”
“So?”
“You’re a single mother.”
Emma looked down at her baby.
Then back at him.
“Exactly.”
Her voice steadied.
“I finally have someone worth fighting for.”
Then Luca’s phone rang.
His attorney at corporate headquarters.
He answered.
Listened.
His face changed.
“What happened?”
He looked at Emma.
“Someone just called an emergency board meeting.”
“Who?”
“William.”
She glanced at the man sitting ten feet away.
Luca continued:
“The motion is to remove me from control of Moretti Hospitality.”
Emma’s heart raced.
“On what grounds?”
Luca looked at William.
“On the grounds that Michael Hayes’s heir has allegedly transferred her voting proxy to Derek Morrison.”
Emma stared.
“I never signed anything.”
William smiled.
“No.”
May you like
Then he removed a document from his briefcase.
“But someone signed for you.”
