Chapter 17 - The Family Secret Comes Apart|
Detective Hayes brought the message to the hospital the following morning.
The initials A.M. stood for Arthur Moretti.
Vincent's grandfather.
But Arthur had already surrendered the ledger and agreed to cooperate. The message could have been a threat against him, a warning from him, or an attempt to frame him.
“We won't draw conclusions from initials alone,” Detective Hayes said. “We need the full conversation and supporting evidence.”
Vincent read the message with a rigid expression.
“My grandfather would never threaten himself.”
“People do unexpected things when they feel cornered,” the detective replied. “But we don't know that he sent it.”
The phone's records eventually revealed that the account had been created using a temporary email address. Several messages had been deleted, but investigators recovered enough data to establish that Marcus and Sophia had been coordinating their activities.
They had discussed the forged authorization, the transfers to Sophia's property accounts, and the need to secure access to the trust before Grace's birth.
They had also exchanged messages about Elena.
Sophia had known Elena was alive for years.
Marcus had been paying someone to monitor her.
The motive was becoming clearer. Elena possessed records showing that Vincent's father had concealed assets and pressured people into signing documents they did not understand. If those records became public, the family's legitimate businesses could face legal consequences.
Marcus wanted control of the trust because it contained the original evidence.
Sophia wanted access to Vincent's wealth and influence, and she believed that keeping him emotionally dependent on her would give her the power to shape his decisions.
Neither had needed to threaten Vincent directly.
They had relied on his habits: his trust in familiar people, his impatience with questions, and his belief that he could manage the consequences later.
When investigators interviewed Sophia, she denied forging my signature. She admitted receiving money and helping Marcus arrange certain transactions, but she claimed she had believed the paperwork was legitimate.
The evidence did not support every part of her account.
For the first time, Vincent did not call her to offer protection.
He asked Detective Hayes to proceed according to the law.
That afternoon, he came to my room.
“I wanted to tell you something before you hear it from someone else,” he said.
I waited.
“My grandfather has agreed to transfer control of the relevant records to an independent trustee. Any interest Grace has will be protected. The process will be supervised by attorneys who are not connected to the family.”
“Good.”
“And I've asked my own lawyers to prepare a full accounting of the money I gave Sophia.”
I looked at him.
“Why?”
“Because some of it came from our joint accounts. I want the funds traced and returned where the law requires.”
“That's what should have happened in the first place.”
“Yes.”
He sat in the chair beside my bed.
“I've also instructed the company to cooperate with the investigation. If my name is on something, I want the investigators to see it.”
“Even if it damages your reputation?”
He nodded.
“I spent years thinking my reputation was the thing I had to protect. I should have been protecting the people who trusted me.”
I looked at him for a long moment.
It was the closest thing to remorse I had ever heard from him.
But I could not forget that he had reached this understanding only after the consequences became impossible to ignore.
“Vincent,” I said, “I want a divorce.”
He closed his eyes.
For a moment, I thought he might argue.
Instead, he nodded.
“I know.”
“Do you?”
“Yes.” His voice cracked. “And this time, I won't tell you that you don't mean it.”
I looked away before he could see my tears.
May you like
Then he added one final sentence.
“There's something else. Elena asked to speak with you privately. She says she has one more piece of information about the night you went into labor.”
