Chapter 8 - THE EX-WIFE WHO OWNED HIS EMPIREThree weeks after leaving Chicago, I returned.
Not for Vincent.
Not for Sophia.
And certainly not for Evelyn Moretti.
I returned because my grandmother's trust had been challenged in court.
Someone had filed an emergency petition claiming the documents were fraudulent.
That someone was Evelyn.
Madison and I flew into Chicago on a gray Tuesday morning.
A black car waited at the airport.
But it wasn't Vincent's.
It belonged to the law firm representing the trust.
For the first time in my life, I entered downtown Chicago without wondering whether Vincent would approve of where I was going.
I had my own attorney.
My own security.
My own decisions.
And beneath my coat, the smallest beginning of a baby bump.
Madison noticed me adjusting the fabric.
“Are you okay?”
I nodded.
“Just nervous.”
“About court?”
“About seeing him.”
She squeezed my hand.
“You don't owe him anything.”
I looked out the window.
“I know.”
But knowing something and feeling it were two different things.
At ten o'clock, we entered a private conference room in a downtown law office.
Evelyn was already there.
So was Vincent.
He stood when I entered.
For one second, everything stopped.
He looked thinner.
There were shadows beneath his eyes.
His hair was slightly longer than usual.
And the moment he saw me, something softened in his face.
“Claire.”
I nodded.
“Vincent.”
Evelyn looked me up and down.
“How convenient. You disappear for three weeks and return claiming to own our family businesses.”
I placed my purse on the table.
“Good morning to you too, Evelyn.”
Her eyes narrowed.
Madison sat beside me.
Our attorney, Rebecca Shaw, opened her briefcase.
“We're here to discuss the trust and the pending ownership dispute.”
Evelyn laughed.
“This is absurd.”
Rebecca slid a document across the table.
“The trust was executed by Rose Moretti and witnessed by two independent attorneys.”
“Rose was elderly.”
“She was mentally competent.”
“She was manipulated.”
Rebecca calmly opened another folder.
“We also have video testimony recorded six months before her death.”
Evelyn stopped smiling.
Vincent looked at the screen.
Rose appeared.
Older.
Fragile.
But unmistakably herself.
If this recording is being played, then Evelyn has challenged my decision.
Vincent's mother went white.
Rose continued.
Claire Bennett is not a thief. She is not an opportunist. And she is certainly not beneath this family.
I felt tears rising.
She is the only person I trusted to finish what Isabella started.
Vincent lowered his head.
Rose's voice became firmer.
The assets placed in this trust were separated from the criminal organization years ago. They are to be used to expose the people who corrupted our family and to compensate those they harmed.
Evelyn stood abruptly.
“Turn that off.”
Rebecca paused the recording.
“No,” Vincent said.
Everyone looked at him.
He stared at his mother.
“Let it play.”
Rose appeared again.
Vincent, my darling boy, if you're watching this, then I hope you've finally learned the difference between loyalty and obedience.
Vincent's face crumpled.
I loved you enough to tell you the truth. Your mother loved you enough to hide it.
The recording ended.
Silence filled the room.
Evelyn looked furious.
“This proves nothing.”
Rebecca closed the laptop.
“It proves Rose's intent. The court will decide the legal validity of the transfers.”
Vincent turned toward me.
“Did you know?”
I shook my head.
“Not until Seattle.”
He looked at the trust documents.
Then at me.
“Why didn't you tell me?”
I held his gaze.
“Because you made it very clear I was no longer part of your life.”
He flinched.
Evelyn laughed bitterly.
“Oh, please. Don't pretend this isn't revenge.”
I turned toward her.
“Revenge?”
She folded her arms.
“You want to humiliate us.”
I stood.
“No, Evelyn.”
My voice was steady.
“I wanted a husband who loved me.”
The room went silent.
“I wanted a family that didn't treat me like an embarrassment.”
Vincent looked down.
“I wanted to stop feeling grateful for scraps of affection.”
I picked up my purse.
“But I don't want those things from you anymore.”
Evelyn stared at me.
“And what do you want now?”
I looked directly at her.
“The truth.”
Then Rebecca placed one more document on the table.
A sworn statement from Daniel Mercer.
It named the person who had authorized the payment to sabotage Isabella's car.
Evelyn reached for it.
Vincent took it first.
He read the first page.
Then the second.
His face drained of color.
He looked at his mother.
“You signed this?”
Evelyn said nothing.
Vincent's voice cracked.
May you like
“Mom?”
And for the first time in his life, the most feared Mafia Boss in Chicago looked like a little boy begging his mother to tell him she wasn't a monster.
