Chapter 4 - The Test That Was Real
Vanessa finally removed the maternity pillow in a private sitting room.
Rosa did not accompany her. After the discovery of the reactivated security code, Alessandro ordered an independent female officer to supervise instead.
The officer returned carrying the sparkling gown and the flesh-colored padding Vanessa had worn beneath it.
There was no pregnancy.
But the test was real.
Tomas used a private medical contact to verify the serial number printed along the plastic edge. The test had been issued by Saint Catherine’s Clinic after a confirmed blood examination.
The patient had been pregnant.
The result was legitimate.
It simply did not belong to Vanessa.
Alessandro placed the test on Elena’s desk.
“Whose result did you steal?”
Vanessa sat across from him in a plain silk robe, her arms folded over her flat stomach.
“I didn’t steal anything.”
“The clinic can identify the patient.”
“Then ask them.”
“We already did.”
For the first time, uncertainty crossed her face.
Tomas set a printed document beside the test.
“The file was registered to a patient identified as E. Moretti.”
Alessandro stared at the name.
Elena Moretti.
A dead woman’s medical account had been reopened three months earlier.
Vanessa recovered quickly.
“Someone gave me the test. I was told the records had been arranged.”
“Who?”
“I want an attorney.”
“You announced a false pregnancy in front of my family and used my wife’s identity to support it.”
“I said I want an attorney.”
Celia Hart stepped into the room.
“I will arrange independent counsel for her.”
Alessandro turned.
“You cannot represent both of us.”
“I am not representing Vanessa. I am protecting the Moretti estate from a public scandal.”
“The scandal is already standing in my wife’s robe.”
Vanessa rose.
“Elena has been dead for eighteen months. Stop acting as though I stole your marriage. You were the one who asked me to move into this house.”
“I asked you to marry me because I believed you cared about Emma.”
“I tried.”
“You ordered her nursery staff dismissed.”
“They were loyal to Rosa, not to me.”
“You removed Elena’s photographs from the east corridor.”
“I didn’t want to live inside a shrine.”
“You told Emma she would have a new bedroom in the guest wing after our wedding.”
Vanessa’s face hardened.
“She needs to learn that the world does not revolve around her.”
Alessandro moved closer.
“She is three.”
“She is also the sole heir to everything you own.”
There it was.
Not love.
Not jealousy.
The inheritance.
Alessandro looked toward Celia.
“Why would a new child affect Emma’s position?”
Celia answered carefully.
“The Moretti family trust distributes control equally among all legally recognized children.”
“Equal distribution wouldn’t remove Emma.”
“No. But the birth of another heir would activate a temporary review of guardianship and voting rights.”
“Why?”
“Your father created the clause after the dispute between you and your brother.”
“My brother died before Emma was born.”
“The clause remained.”
Vittorio appeared at the door.
“And there is nothing sinister about it,” he said. “It prevents anyone from rushing an unverified child into the succession.”
Alessandro faced him.
“Who controls the shares during the review?”
Vittorio did not immediately answer.
Celia did.
“The interim family trustee.”
“And who is that?”
“Vittorio.”
Vanessa looked away.
Alessandro understood.
A false pregnancy would not merely give Vanessa social power. If the child were legally acknowledged, control of Alessandro’s voting shares could be frozen for months.
During that period, Vittorio would control the Moretti companies.
“What happens if I die before the review ends?” Alessandro asked.
Celia’s silence gave him the answer.
Vittorio would remain trustee.
Vanessa could claim guardianship of the unborn heir.
Emma could be removed from the mansion while the estate was disputed.
Alessandro turned to Vanessa.
“You weren’t pretending to be pregnant for a wedding.”
She smiled faintly.
“You always believed marriage was about love.”
A guard entered carrying a sealed envelope recovered from Vanessa’s apartment.
Inside was a draft guardianship petition.
It requested that Emma Moretti be placed in temporary residential care after the birth of Vanessa’s child.
The petition had already been signed.
May you like
Not by Vanessa.
By Celia Hart.
