Chapter 10 - The Hidden Ledger
Morning arrived with a quiet, golden serenity.
I woke up wrapped in the soft charcoal silk sheets of Gabriel’s master bed, the scent of cedarwood and masculine warmth lingering on the pillows.
Gabriel was not in bed.
I pulled on a thick cashmere robe and walked into the adjoining private study.
The morning sun illuminated the large mahogany desk, which was covered in stacks of corporate documents, financial audits, and legal filings.
Sitting right in the center of the desk was a thick, blue leather binder stamped with the official seal of the Moretti Family Trust.
A handwritten note in Gabriel’s sharp handwriting sat on top:
To be delivered to Claire Bennett in the event of my death.
My heart skipped a beat. The ink on the envelope was aged—it wasn't written last night. It had been drafted months ago.
With trembling fingers, I opened the binder.
Inside were the original financial transfer records from the day my brother Leo had been admitted to Northwestern Memorial Hospital eight months ago.
I flipped through the bank statements, and what I found made my knees go weak.
The twelve million dollars that cleared my father’s debts to the Marcone syndicate had not come from a corporate merger fund. It had come directly from Gabriel Moretti’s private, personal liquidity accounts.
And beneath the financial statements were the signed trust declarations.
Clause 4.1: The beneficiary, Claire Bennett, shall receive unconditional ownership of Bennett Logistics, fully capitalized, with zero liability or debt.
Clause 4.2: Under no circumstance shall Claire Bennett be coerced, legally obligated, or pressured into marriage with Gabriel Moretti or Luke Moretti to secure the aforementioned funds. The grant is unconditional and irrevocable.
I read the words three times, tears blurring my vision.
Gabriel had never demanded a marriage contract.
He had paid off my father’s debts and saved my brother eight months ago with no strings attached.
It was Luke.
Luke had intercepted the documents, concealed Gabriel’s unconditional grant from my parents, and fabricated the entire "marriage-for-debt" transaction to force me to the altar so he could claim his thirty percent share of the trust.
Gabriel had believed all along that Luke had courted me legitimately on his behalf with my full consent. And when I ran from the altar, Gabriel had assumed I was simply terrified of his scars and his reputation.
“He never bought me,” I whispered aloud to the empty room, tears streaming down my cheeks. “He gave us everything… and Luke turned it into a ransom.”
Suddenly, the landline phone on the desk rang with a sharp, piercing ring.
I picked it up. “Hello?”
“Claire?”
It was my mother’s frantic, sobbing voice on the other end of the line.
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“Mom? What’s wrong?”
“It’s Luke!” my mother cried in absolute terror. “He’s here at the house with Dante Marcone and four armed men! They’ve taken your father and Leo hostage! Luke said if Gabriel doesn't sign over the voting shares by noon, they’re going to execute your brother!”
