Chapter 2 - THE SIGNATURE HE NEVER GAVE
THE ENGAGEMENT WAS OVER. BUT WHEN DOMINIC'S SECURITY CHIEF DISCOVERED A SCHOOL APPLICATION BEARING HIS SIGNATURE, THE MAFIA BOSS REALIZED VANESSA HADN'T JUST PLANNED TO SEND HIS DAUGHTER AWAY. SOMEONE HAD ALREADY STARTED MAKING IT HAPPEN.
“Daddy, are you mad at me?”
Emma's question nearly brought Dominic Moretti to his knees.
The ballroom had fallen silent.
Eighty guests watched the man who controlled half the city's underground business hold his six-year-old daughter against his chest.
He could make powerful men disappear from boardrooms with a phone call.
But he couldn't undo the fear in his little girl's voice.
“No, princess.”
He kissed her forehead.
“I'm mad at myself for not seeing how unhappy you were.”
Emma touched his cheek.
“Can Sophie stay?”
Dominic looked toward the young maid.
Sophie stood near the dining table, trembling.
“She stays,” he promised.
“Forever?”
Dominic swallowed.
“As long as she wants to.”
Emma finally relaxed against his shoulder.
Across the room, Vanessa Sterling let out a bitter laugh.
“This is unbelievable.”
Dominic turned.
“Caleb.”
His security chief stepped forward.
“Sir?”
“Take Miss Sterling to the front entrance. She can arrange to collect her belongings later.”
Vanessa's expression changed.
“You're humiliating me in front of everyone.”
Dominic didn't raise his voice.
“You did that yourself.”
Caleb approached.
Vanessa pulled away.
“Don't touch me!”
Then she looked directly at Sophie.
“You think you've won?”
Sophie lowered her eyes.
“I never wanted any of this.”
Vanessa smiled coldly.
“Then you're going to hate what happens next.”
Dominic caught the threat immediately.
“What does that mean?”
Vanessa straightened her gown.
“Ask your precious maid what she's been hiding.”
Sophie went pale.
Dominic noticed.
But before he could question her, Vanessa walked toward the entrance with Caleb following.
The doors closed.
And the celebration officially ended.
Twenty minutes later, the mansion was nearly empty.
Dominic carried Emma upstairs himself.
For the first time in months, he entered her bedroom without Vanessa standing beside him.
He noticed things he had never paid attention to before.
A chair pushed against the closet.
A night-light plugged into the wall.
Three stuffed animals arranged beside the door.
And a small plastic cup filled with crackers beneath the bed.
“Princess?”
Emma looked up.
“Why are you keeping food under there?”
She hesitated.
“Sometimes I got hungry.”
Dominic's stomach tightened.
“Didn't anyone bring you dinner?”
“Sophie did.”
“Every night?”
Emma shook her head.
“Sometimes Vanessa told her she couldn't come upstairs.”
Dominic sat beside her.
“What did you do then?”
Emma pointed toward the crackers.
“I saved them from breakfast.”
He stared at the little cup.
His daughter had been storing food in her bedroom.
In a mansion with three kitchens.
He pulled her close.
“You never have to do that again.”
Emma looked toward the door.
“Can we leave it open?”
“Of course.”
“All the way?”
“All the way.”
She leaned against him.
“Daddy?”
“Yes, sweetheart?”
“Are you going away tomorrow?”
He thought about the meetings waiting on his calendar.
The investors.
The negotiations.
The men who expected him to solve their problems.
Then he looked at his daughter.
“No.”
Emma's eyes widened.
“Really?”
“Tomorrow belongs to you.”
She smiled for the first time that evening.
Downstairs, Caleb was waiting in Dominic's study.
His expression was unusually grim.
“We have a problem.”
Dominic closed the door.
“Vanessa?”
“Worse.”
Caleb placed a folder on the desk.
“I checked the residential school's admissions office.”
Dominic frowned.
“Why?”
“Because Miss Bennett's statement mentioned an application. I wanted to know whether Vanessa had actually submitted one.”
“And?”
Caleb opened the folder.
“Emma has already been accepted.”
Dominic stared at him.
“That isn't possible.”
“Her enrollment file was completed eleven days ago.”
Dominic snatched the paperwork.
The school was called Ashcroft Academy.
A private residential institution in upstate New York.
The tuition deposit was $85,000.
Already paid.
The emergency contact was Vanessa Sterling.
And under parental authorization—
Dominic Moretti.
His signature.
His initials.
His personal information.
Everything appeared legitimate.
Except he had never seen the document.
“THAT ISN'T MY SIGNATURE.”
Caleb nodded.
“I suspected as much.”
Dominic examined the final page.
The signature was an almost perfect imitation.
But the letter M had a small upward stroke Dominic hadn't used since his twenties.
Someone had copied it from an old document.
“Who paid the deposit?”
“An account belonging to Sterling Family Holdings.”
“Vanessa's company?”
“Yes.”
Dominic turned another page.
Then stopped.
There was a medical authorization.
It permitted Ashcroft's staff to arrange psychological evaluations and restrict outside visits during an initial adjustment period, subject to the school's policies and applicable law.
Dominic read the paragraph twice.
“Restrict visits?”
Caleb nodded grimly.
“Vanessa was trying to create a situation where you couldn't see Emma whenever you wanted.”
Dominic pushed back his chair.
“Get our attorney here. Tonight.”
“Already called.”
“Contact the school. Tell them no one has permission to enroll or transport my daughter.”
“I've done that too.”
Dominic looked up.
“Then what's the problem?”
Caleb hesitated.
“There's another signature.”
He turned to the next page.
Dominic looked down.
His blood ran cold.
The document identified a second adult who had supposedly witnessed his authorization.
SOPHIE BENNETT.
Sophie was in the kitchen when Dominic found her.
She was washing a champagne glass with trembling hands.
“Sophie.”
She turned immediately.
“Mr. Moretti?”
He placed the document on the counter.
“Have you ever seen this?”
Sophie glanced down.
Her face drained of color.
“No.”
“Look carefully.”
She read the first page.
Then the second.
When she reached the signature, she covered her mouth.
“Oh, God.”
Dominic watched her.
“Is that yours?”
“No, sir.”
“Are you certain?”
Sophie looked hurt.
“Mr. Moretti, I would never sign anything that helped send Emma away.”
He studied her for a moment.
Then nodded.
“I believe you.”
Her eyes filled with tears.
“Thank you.”
“But someone wants me to think otherwise.”
Sophie stared at the document.
“Vanessa.”
“Maybe.”
Dominic leaned against the counter.
“What was she threatening you with?”
Sophie went still.
“What?”
“At the party, she said you were hiding something.”
Sophie looked toward the hallway.
Dominic softened his voice.
“You protected my daughter when I failed to. You don't have to be afraid of telling me the truth.”
A tear slipped down her cheek.
“My younger brother.”
Dominic frowned.
“Your brother?”
“His name is Noah. He's nineteen.”
“What about him?”
“He was injured in a car accident last year. He needs rehabilitation and specialized care.”
Dominic waited.
“Vanessa found out I was paying his medical bills.”
Sophie twisted her hands.
“She offered to help.”
“And?”
“She paid for three months of treatment. Then she told me that if I reported what she was doing to Emma, she'd demand the money back and make sure Noah lost his place in the program.”
Dominic's expression darkened.
“How much?”
“Thirty-eight thousand dollars.”
He stared at her.
“You were protecting Emma while Vanessa held your brother's treatment over your head?”
Sophie nodded.
“I tried to save enough to pay it back.”
“Why didn't you come to me?”
“I tried, sir. Twice.”
Dominic remembered the first time.
Vanessa had interrupted them in the hallway.
The second time, she'd told him Sophie wanted a raise.
He had been late for a meeting.
He'd told Sophie to discuss it with the house manager.
Shame settled heavily in his chest.
“I'm sorry.”
Sophie shook her head.
“You didn't know.”
“I should have.”
Before she could answer, Caleb entered the kitchen.
“Sir. You need to see something.”
Dominic turned.
“What now?”
Caleb held up his phone.
“Ashcroft Academy just sent us the identification documents used for Emma's application.”
On the screen was a scanned passport.
Emma's photograph.
Emma's date of birth.
Emma's full legal name.
And beneath it—
A document claiming her mother was deceased.
Dominic frowned.
“That's public information.”
Caleb shook his head.
“Look at the attached certificate.”
Dominic enlarged the image.
It was an official-looking death certificate for Emma's mother, Isabella Moretti.
But the document number was wrong.
And the listed date of death was six months earlier than the date Dominic had buried his wife.
“It's forged,” Dominic said.
“Yes.”
“Why would Vanessa need a fake death certificate when Isabella really died?”
Caleb hesitated.
“That's what I couldn't understand.”
Then he opened the final attachment.
A confidential letter from a private investigator.
The investigator had been hired to verify Emma's family background.
At the bottom was a handwritten note.
THE CHILD'S MOTHER MAY NOT HAVE DIED ON THE DATE RECORDED. FURTHER INVESTIGATION RECOMMENDED.
Dominic stared at the screen.
“What investigator?”
Caleb scrolled down.
Then stopped.
The signature belonged to a man Dominic knew.
A man who had disappeared four years earlier.
A man who had been the last person to see Isabella alive.
MARCUS VALE.
May you like
And according to the document, Marcus had met Vanessa Sterling just three weeks ago.
END OF CHAPTER 2
