Chapter 6 - The Company That Belonged to a Dead Man
The recording ended after twenty-eight seconds.
Clara pressed play again.
The same images returned.
Daniel seated in the warehouse.
The hand placing the document beside him.
The warning about Adrian.
The claim that the Moretti family did not own the company.
Naomi stared at the blank screen.
“What does that mean?”
“I do not know.”
“Maybe Daniel meant they lost control of it.”
“He said they do not own it.”
“Who does?”
Clara looked at the black lion symbol.
“Perhaps whoever holds the card.”
A knock sounded at the door.
Naomi immediately unplugged the phone and slipped it into Clara’s bag.
“Who is it?”
“Adrian.”
Clara opened the door but did not invite him inside.
“You should be home with Leo,” he said.
“I am working.”
“It is nearly midnight.”
“So?”
“So someone has been following your son.”
“Your security officers are outside my apartment.”
Adrian’s gaze moved toward the table.
“What are you doing here?”
“Reviewing payroll records.”
“With the lights off?”
Naomi reached for the wall switch.
“We were leaving.”
Adrian held up a folder.
“The court scheduled a hearing for tomorrow afternoon. Isabella intends to argue that Vincent was legally incompetent when he amended the trust.”
“Was he?”
“No.”
“You answered quickly.”
“Because I saw him the morning the document was signed.”
“Did you watch him sign it?”
Adrian paused.
“I notarized it.”
Clara remembered Isabella’s claim that Vincent had destroyed the version naming Leo.
“Where was it signed?”
“Vincent’s private apartment.”
“Who else was there?”
“No one.”
Clara watched his face.
Adrian was an experienced lawyer. If he was lying, he did not show it.
“What happens if Isabella wins?”
“Control returns to the Moretti board. They will remove you from the restaurant and seize every record we found.”
“And the employees?”
“The repayments will be delayed.”
“Then she cannot win.”
Adrian stepped closer.
“Isabella did not visit today merely to deliver a court order.”
“No.”
“What did she want?”
“You should ask her.”
“I am asking you.”
Clara met his eyes.
“Why did you call her from the Brooklyn warehouse?”
For the first time, Adrian seemed unprepared.
“Who told you that?”
“She did.”
“I notified the Moretti board because the property belonged to the company.”
“You told me not to tell anyone.”
“That was before we discovered the phone.”
“You also told her about that.”
“I was required to.”
“By whom?”
Adrian’s jaw tightened.
“The estate has rules.”
“Daniel died following rules.”
“Clara.”
“Go home, Adrian.”
“This building is not safe.”
“It was not safe when Marcus ran it either.”
Adrian studied her for several seconds.
Then he placed the folder on the table.
“Tomorrow’s hearing begins at three. Whatever Isabella promised you, remember that she protects the Moretti name above everything.”
He left.
Naomi locked the door.
“You handled that well.”
“No, I did not.”
“You did not tell him about the recording.”
“He knows I am hiding something.”
“Then what do we do?”
Clara reopened the video.
This time, she paused at the moment Adrian’s hand entered the frame.
The document contained a logo she had seen before.
Not the Moretti lion.
A compass surrounded by seven stars.
Naomi took a photograph of the screen and searched the symbol.
No public company used it.
Clara searched Daniel’s old emails from a backup account she had not opened in years. Most messages were personal. Bills. School notices. Grocery coupons.
Then she found an unsent draft.
The subject line contained only two words.
NORTHSTAR TRUST.
The message had no recipient.
Clara,
Moretti Hospitality is not a family company. It is a controlled asset of Northstar Trust. Vincent thinks he controls Northstar, but he does not know the original beneficiary survived.
Do not trust anyone who claims the black lion card gives them ownership.
The card does not give ownership.
It identifies ownership.
The draft ended there.
Naomi read the final line twice.
“Identifies whose ownership?”
Clara opened Vincent’s envelope again.
The cash had been counted by police and returned. There were thirty thousand dollars in total.
Beneath the money and key, Clara discovered a thin layer of cardboard.
She tore it open.
A folded certificate was hidden inside.
NORTHSTAR TRUST BENEFICIARY IDENTIFICATION RECORD.
At the bottom was Leo’s name.
The date beside it was the day he was born.
Clara felt the room shift.
Leo had been listed as a trust beneficiary before Daniel began investigating the Moretti accounts.
Before Marcus photographed him.
Before Vincent came to the restaurant.
“Why would a newborn own part of a company?” Naomi whispered.
Clara looked at the line marked parentage verification.
The space was empty.
The next afternoon, the hearing took place inside a private Manhattan courtroom.
Isabella Moretti sat with four corporate attorneys.
Adrian represented Clara.
Reporters crowded the hallway, but the judge sealed the proceedings because Leo was a minor.
Isabella’s attorney argued that Vincent had been paranoid, unstable, and manipulated by unknown people during the final months of his life.
Adrian presented medical evaluations proving Vincent remained competent.
Then Isabella took the witness stand.
“Did your uncle discuss Clara Bennett with you?” her attorney asked.
“Yes.”
“What did he say?”
“He believed Clara’s husband had hidden documents proving ownership of Northstar Trust.”
“Did he believe Clara possessed those documents?”
“Yes.”
“Did he intend to transfer the restaurant to her?”
“He considered it.”
“Did he complete the transfer?”
“No.”
Adrian stood for cross-examination.
“How can you be certain?”
“Because I watched him burn the document.”
“When?”
“Six weeks ago.”
“Where?”
“In his library.”
“Why did he burn it?”
Isabella looked directly at Clara.
“Because he received DNA results concerning Leo Bennett.”
Clara’s heart struck hard against her ribs.
Adrian asked, “What did the results show?”
“That Daniel Bennett was not Leo’s biological father.”
Clara stood before she realized she was moving.
“That is a lie.”
The judge ordered her to sit.
Isabella continued.
“Vincent believed Daniel had used the child to gain access to the Moretti estate.”
Clara could barely breathe.
Leo had Daniel’s eyes. Daniel’s expressions. Daniel’s habit of lifting one eyebrow whenever he was trying not to laugh.
The attorney handed Isabella a sealed report.
“Is this the DNA analysis Vincent received?”
“Yes.”
The report was entered into evidence.
Adrian requested time to examine it.
The judge opened the envelope.
Her expression changed.
“This report does not state that Daniel Bennett was excluded as the father.”
Isabella frowned.
“That is what Vincent told me.”
The judge continued reading.
“It states that the submitted sample labeled Daniel Bennett did not belong to the deceased individual buried under that name.”
Clara gripped the table.
The courtroom became silent.
May you like
The report did not prove Daniel was not Leo’s father.
It proved the body Clara had buried was not Daniel.
