Chapter 10 - The Announcement That Never Happened|
Dante had arranged a private gathering in the hotel's smaller reception room after the birthday celebration. Several business associates remained, along with a few family members who had been invited under the pretense of discussing a new charitable initiative.
I hadn't been invited.
I learned about it from Lucy, who found me near the ballroom after most guests had left.
“Dad says everyone needs to hear his side,” she explained. “He thinks you and Grandma are making him look guilty.”
“Has he shown you any documents?”
“No. He just keeps saying the company is yours and that you approved everything.”
I felt a familiar ache in my chest.
“He knows I didn't.”
“Then why would he say that?”
“Because admitting the truth would mean explaining why he used my name.”
Lucy looked frightened.
“Could he go to prison?”
“I don't know. That depends on what happened and what the evidence proves.”
She wrapped her arms around herself.
“I don't want him to lose everything.”
“Neither do I. But protecting someone from the consequences of their actions isn't the same as loving them.”
She nodded, though I could tell she was struggling.
When we entered the reception room, Dante was standing beside a screen displaying the Northstar logo. Bianca sat near the front. Victor Hale was beside her, looking uncomfortable.
Dante's expression hardened when he saw me.
“I didn't invite you.”
“Lucy asked me to come.”
He looked at his daughter.
“Lucy, this is a business matter.”
“Then why are you planning to talk about Isabella?”
He had no immediate answer.
Several associates exchanged glances.
Dante turned back to the room.
“Northstar Family Holdings was created to manage legitimate family investments. Isabella was listed as the principal owner because I wanted to protect her interests.”
“Did I sign the incorporation documents?” I asked.
He stared at me.
“This is not the place.”
“You arranged this meeting to explain the company. I'm asking a direct question.”
His jaw tightened.
“You signed numerous documents over the years.”
“Not these.”
Victor shifted in his chair.
Dante noticed.
“Victor, perhaps you can explain the filing process.”
Victor looked at the screen, then at the people around him.
“I handled the paperwork I was given.”
“By whom?”
“By your office.”
“Which person in my office?”
Victor hesitated.
“Natalie Cross.”
A murmur passed through the room.
Dante's face darkened.
“Natalie was an employee. She acted under authority.”
“Whose authority?” Margaret asked from the doorway.
I hadn't known she would arrive, but she carried a folder and a calm expression.
Dante looked furious.
“This meeting is private.”
“Not if you're making claims about my client's legal ownership and signatures,” Margaret replied. “I am here to correct the record.”
She placed copies of the disputed documents on the table.
“These filings contain a notarized signature dated while Isabella was out of state. We have evidence that she did not authorize the company formation. The bank has been notified of disputed transactions, and the records are under review.”
Dante looked at me.
“You brought a lawyer to my mother's birthday?”
“No,” I said. “You brought a financial scandal to her birthday. My lawyer is here because you tried to make me responsible for it.”
He stepped toward me.
“You have no idea what you're doing.”
“Then explain it.”
He looked around the room, searching for someone to support him.
Bianca stood.
“I told Isabella what I knew,” she said. “And I'm not going to lie for you.”
Dante's face changed.
“You said you wanted to help me.”
“I wanted you to tell me the truth. You told me Isabella had agreed to everything. She hadn't. You told me your marriage was over. It wasn't. You told me I was part of your future, but you were using me to keep the company transactions quiet.”
“That is not what happened.”
“Then show us the records.”
He said nothing.
The room had become painfully quiet.
Finally, Elena entered.
“This meeting is over,” she said.
No one argued.
Dante stood alone beside the screen as his associates filed out. He looked at me with a mixture of fury and something that might have been fear.
“You've destroyed my reputation.”
I shook my head.
“No, Dante. I stopped protecting it from the truth.”
I left with Margaret and Lucy.
At the hotel entrance, Lucy hugged me tightly.
“I don't know what happens now,” she whispered.
“Neither do I.”
Then my phone rang.
It was a number I didn't recognize.
A woman's voice spoke quietly.
“Mrs. Morty, my name is Natalie Cross. I was Dante's assistant.”
My heart began to pound.
“I know who you are.”
“I need to tell you something before he finds out I've contacted you.”
“What?”
“The company in your name was only one part of the arrangement.”
May you like
She paused.
“Dante didn't create Northstar to protect you. He created it because someone was preparing to take his empire apart—and he needed a person the investigators would blame instead of him.”
