Chapter 3 - groceries on the marble floor)
Alessandra called the family office.
A woman named Patricia answered.
“Moretti Family Office, good afternoon.”
“This is Alessandra Moretti.”
There was a pause.
“Ms. Moretti?”
“Yes.”
“May I verify your security phrase?”
Alessandra gave it.
Patricia’s tone changed.
“How can I help you?”
“I got an email saying I confirmed account changes.”
Another pause.
“Yes.”
“What changes?”
“I can pull the authorization.”
“Please.”
Alessandra stood in the upstairs hallway, one hand gripping her phone, the other resting on Theo’s bassinet.
Patricia returned.
“It appears there was a request to update secondary access permissions.”
“To whom?”
“Your husband.”
“I didn’t request that.”
Silence.
“Ms. Moretti, the request contains your electronic signature.”
“I didn’t sign anything.”
Patricia became very careful.
“I understand.”
“Can you cancel it?”
“Yes. I’m freezing the request immediately.”
“Who submitted it?”
“It originated through your household IP address.”
Alessandra looked down the stairs.
Marcia was speaking on the phone in the kitchen.
“Can you send me a copy?”
“I can send it to your secure inbox.”
“My password was changed.”
Patricia stopped.
“Did you change it?”
“No.”
“Then I’m locking the entire account.”
Alessandra’s heart began beating faster.
“Patricia, don’t call Colin.”
“I won’t.”
“Or my mother in law.”
“I understand.”
“And please don’t call my father yet.”
That request caused the longest silence.
“Ms. Moretti, I am required to escalate suspected unauthorized access.”
“To my father?”
“To our chief legal officer.”
“Who will tell my father.”
“Yes.”
Alessandra closed her eyes.
“Can you give me one hour?”
“I can give you enough time to collect anything you need personally. I cannot delay the security lock.”
“Okay.”
After ending the call, Alessandra stood motionless.
She had defended Colin for years.
Whenever Giorgio questioned his business judgment, Alessandra called her father controlling.
Whenever friends noticed Colin’s resentment, she said he was simply proud.
Whenever Marcia overstepped, Alessandra told herself family relationships required patience.
Now she wondered how many warnings she had translated into insults because the truth was more painful.
She went downstairs.
Marcia ended her call when she saw her.
“Everything okay?”
“I need groceries.”
“You went two days ago.”
“We need diapers.”
“Order them.”
“I want air.”
Marcia studied her.
Then smiled.
“Of course.”
That permission infuriated Alessandra.
She went upstairs, dressed, placed Theo in his carrier, and started toward the garage.
Marcia appeared behind her.
“You’re taking the baby?”
“Yes.”
“You’re too tired to drive.”
“I’ll walk.”
“The market is almost a mile.”
“I know.”
“Leave Theo.”
Alessandra turned.
“No.”
Marcia’s smile disappeared.
“Why not?”
“Because he’s my son.”
“I know that.”
“Then stop asking.”
The women stared at each other.
Finally Marcia stepped aside.
Alessandra walked to a small specialty market several blocks away.
The September air was cool.
Theo slept against her chest.
For twenty minutes, Alessandra felt almost normal.
No one corrected her.
No one told her what she remembered.
No one watched her.
At the checkout counter, her card declined.
She tried another.
Declined.
A third.
Declined.
People waited behind her.
Heat flooded her face.
“I’m sorry.”
She opened her wallet.
Only twelve dollars in cash.
The diapers cost seventeen.
A woman behind her quietly stepped forward.
“I’ll cover it.”
Alessandra shook her head.
“No, thank you.”
“It’s okay.”
“I’m okay.”
She was not.
The cashier removed several items.
Alessandra paid for diapers and formula with the last cash in her wallet.
On the walk home, Theo began crying.
By the time she reached the house, Alessandra was shaking.
Marcia was sitting at the dining table.
“You walked?”
“My cards don’t work.”
Marcia barely looked up.
“Ask Colin.”
“Did you know?”
“Know what?”
“That my accounts were frozen?”
“No.”
The answer was false.
Alessandra knew it immediately.
She carried the groceries inside.
One bag tore.
A container of formula rolled across the marble floor.
Marcia sighed.
“For goodness’ sake.”
Alessandra crouched to pick it up.
Her vision blurred.
“Could you hold Theo?”
“I’m eating.”
“Please.”
“You need to learn how to do more than one thing.”
Alessandra slowly stood.
She looked at Marcia.
“Why do you hate me?”
For once, Marcia did not pretend confusion.
She placed down her fork.
“I don’t hate you.”
“You do.”
“No.”
“Then what is this?”
Marcia leaned back.
“You want the truth?”
“Yes.”
“I think you were raised to believe love means everyone rescuing you.”
Alessandra stared at her.
“Your father gives you money, staff, property, influence. You’ve never had to become strong.”
“I worked for six years before I married Colin.”
“At your father’s company.”
“I built the entire West Coast hospitality division.”
“With your father’s name.”
There it was again.
The Moretti name.
The inheritance.
The thing Colin and Marcia both claimed not to care about while quietly circling it.
Marcia stood.
“My son deserves something that belongs to him.”
“He has a company.”
“Built with whose money?”
Alessandra went still.
“What did you say?”
Marcia realized too late.
Alessandra stepped closer.
“What money?”
Marcia picked up her plate.
“Ask your husband.”
She walked toward the kitchen.
Alessandra remained in the dining room.
Theo whimpered against her chest.
Her phone buzzed.
A message from Patricia.
I sent copies to the alternate secure address you provided years ago. Please review immediately.
Alessandra had nearly forgotten that account existed.
She opened it.
Three documents.
The first granted Colin temporary authority over an investment trust.
The second authorized a guarantee against Alessandra’s personal assets.
The third transferred voting rights attached to shares she owned in Moretti Hospitality Group.
All three carried her signature.
All three had been executed after Theo’s birth.
And Alessandra had never signed any of them.
She looked toward the hallway where Marcia had disappeared.
Then at the time.
5:42 p.m.
Colin would be home soon.
Alessandra should have called her father immediately.
May you like
Instead, she made one final mistake.
She decided to confront her husband alone.
