Chapter 6 - Bianca's Version of the Truth)
Hours before Adrian reached the cemetery, Bianca cornered Mara in the upstairs hall.
Mara had packed one suitcase.
After overhearing Emma explain Adrian's alias, there had been no point pretending she could remain in the Moretti house.
She needed distance.
A doctor.
A place where Bianca could not watch her.
Bianca leaned against the doorframe.
"Going somewhere?"
"Yes."
"You haven't been dismissed."
"I'm resigning."
"Why?"
Mara zipped the suitcase.
"Because you listen outside staff doors."
Bianca smiled.
"You think you're clever."
"No."
"You think because Adrian slept with you, you're important."
Mara stopped.
"So you knew."
Bianca's smile vanished.
Mara turned fully toward her.
"You knew exactly who I was when I came here."
Bianca said nothing.
"You knew I knew Adrian."
"Adrian knew many women."
"Did he ask you to send me that note?"
Bianca's face gave the answer before her mouth did.
Mara felt sick.
"You wrote it."
"No."
"You sent it."
Bianca stepped inside.
"Do you think a man like Adrian Moretti was going to build a life with a hotel employee?"
Mara's voice shook.
"You don't get to decide that."
"I decided it months ago."
"Why?"
Bianca looked at Mara's stomach.
There.
The fear again.
Mara followed her gaze.
"What does my baby have to do with you?"
Bianca walked toward the window.
"Sebastian and Adrian's grandfather created a trust."
"I don't care."
"You should. Your child could be worth several billion dollars before learning to walk."
Mara's face hardened.
"My child isn't worth money."
"To you, maybe."
"To Adrian?"
"To the entire Moretti family."
Mara sat slowly on the edge of the bed.
Bianca continued.
"If Adrian has a recognized descendant, Sebastian loses the future controlling vote."
"So this is about money."
"This is about survival."
"No. It's about greed."
Bianca turned.
"You have no idea what it is like to marry into a family where every conversation eventually becomes a ranking. Adrian first. Adrian gets the trust. Adrian gets the votes. Adrian gets the loyalty."
"So you destroyed my relationship with him."
"I protected my husband."
"You lied to both of us."
"I removed a complication."
Mara stood.
"I'm leaving."
Bianca blocked the door.
"No."
Mara stared.
"What do you mean, no?"
"You are going to sign something."
Bianca removed a folded document from her bag.
Mara did not take it.
"What?"
"A statement saying you had a relationship with Sebastian."
Mara laughed in disbelief.
"You've lost your mind."
"It will explain the pregnancy."
"The baby isn't his."
"Exactly."
Mara felt cold.
"You want everyone to think it is."
"Temporarily."
"Why?"
"So Adrian stays away until the trust issue can be handled."
"What does handled mean?"
Bianca did not answer.
Mara looked at the document again.
"And Sebastian agreed to this?"
Bianca's silence changed.
Not agreement.
Not exactly.
Something weaker.
Something cowardly.
"He knows?"
"He knows enough."
Mara picked up her suitcase.
"Move."
"You don't have anywhere to go."
"I'll find somewhere."
"With what money?"
Mara's eyes flashed.
"My mother's grave is more honest company than anyone in this house."
Bianca's face tightened.
Mara pushed past her.
She took a rideshare to the cemetery.
She needed ten minutes beside Eleanor's grave before deciding where to sleep.
She received seven.
Then Bianca's car appeared.
At the estate, Sebastian entered Mara's empty room fifteen minutes later.
He found the unsigned statement on the bed.
He read it.
His face changed.
"Bianca."
He called her.
No answer.
Again.
No answer.
Then he saw another paper on the floor.
A photocopy of the Moretti trust clause.
Highlighted.
Descendant.
Recognized issue.
Controlling vote.
Sebastian stared.
He had feared the possibility.
He had complained about the unfairness.
He had allowed Bianca to monitor Mara.
But he had never authorized this.
He grabbed his coat.
On the way downstairs he called Adrian for the first time in eight months.
Adrian answered.
Neither brother spoke at first.
Then Sebastian said, "You need to get to Mara."
Adrian's voice turned deadly calm.
"Why?"
"Bianca knows she's pregnant."
Silence.
Sebastian closed his eyes.
"Adrian?"
The answer came quietly.
May you like
"Pregnant?"
Sebastian realized too late that Adrian had not known.
