Chapter 6 - THE FAVORITE CHILDFor three days, newspapers knew only that Moretti Holdings was conducting an internal governance review.
Nothing about Lily.
Nothing about Elena.
Dominic refused to let his daughter become public evidence.
Richard’s attorneys attempted the opposite.
They filed an emergency petition questioning Dominic’s fitness as Lily’s sole guardian.
Rebecca read it twice, then looked across Dominic’s kitchen table.
“They’re actually doing it.”
Dominic poured coffee.
“On what grounds?”
“Emotional instability, alleged intimidation of family members, dangerous business associations, and…”
She stopped.
“And?”
“Physical discipline.”
Dominic almost laughed.
“They chained her.”
“I know.”
“And claim I did it.”
“They have witnesses who initially heard Helen say you approved it.”
“But the recording.”
“Destroys the claim eventually. But Richard doesn’t need to win immediately. He needs chaos.”
Dominic understood.
A headline could accomplish what a judgment never would.
BILLIONAIRE FATHER ACCUSED OF ABUSE.
Facts could arrive three weeks later.
The damage would arrive in three minutes.
Rebecca added, “They’re also naming Catherine as an alternative temporary guardian.”
Dominic looked toward the backyard, where Catherine was pushing Lily on a swing.
“Does she know?”
“No.”
“Tell her.”
Catherine’s reaction was immediate.
“Absolutely not.”
She stood in the library holding the petition.
“I never agreed to this.”
“They don’t need your agreement to nominate you.”
“I’ll refuse.”
Rebecca nodded.
“That helps.”
Catherine shook with anger.
“He’s using me again.”
Dominic watched her.
“And Ethan.”
She looked up.
“What?”
“He didn’t favor Ethan because he loves him more.”
Catherine’s face changed.
“He favored him because Ethan was useful.”
The realization hurt.
For years, Richard had showered Ethan with gifts.
Private-school tuition.
Trips.
Sports tickets.
Promises that “one day, this will all matter.”
Catherine had interpreted that as grandfatherly affection.
Now every memory looked different.
“He wanted Ethan to become Lily’s rival.”
Dominic nodded.
Catherine sat down.
“My son thinks Grandpa loves him.”
“Maybe he does.”
“That almost makes it worse.”
Dominic understood.
Abuse was not always the absence of affection.
Sometimes it was affection weaponized.
That afternoon, Ethan asked Dominic a question.
“Is Grandpa going to jail?”
Dominic didn’t lie.
“I don’t know.”
Ethan picked at the edge of a coloring book.
“Mom says he did bad things.”
“Yes.”
“To Aunt Elena?”
“We’re trying to understand that.”
Ethan looked toward Lily.
She was building a tower from wooden blocks.
“Did Grandpa give me cake because he wanted Lily sad?”
Dominic took a moment.
“I think he wanted both of you to feel like you were competing.”
“Why?”
“Because people are easier to control when they think love is something they have to win.”
Ethan frowned.
“Do I have to give Lily my birthday presents now?”
Dominic almost smiled.
“No.”
“Good.”
Then Ethan added seriously, “But she can use my scooter.”
Dominic nodded.
“That sounds fair.”
The children moved forward faster than the adults.
By Thursday, forensic accountants found the first undeniable theft.
Richard had diverted $8.4 million from an investment partnership through consulting agreements linked to Victor Hale.
By Friday, the amount exceeded twelve million.
By Saturday, Victor Hale disappeared.
Then a package arrived.
No return address.
Inside was a flash drive.
Gabriel scanned it before anyone opened the contents.
Hundreds of files.
Photographs.
Bank records.
Audio recordings.
Emails.
And one video.
Dominic watched it in the library with Rebecca and Gabriel.
Victor Hale appeared on screen.
The recording looked self-made.
“If you are watching this, Richard Moretti has probably decided I’m disposable.”
Rebecca whispered, “Insurance.”
Victor continued.
“For six years, Richard paid me to solve problems. Financial problems. Personal problems. Problems involving people.”
Dominic’s jaw tightened.
“Most assignments were legal, or close enough. Some were not.”
Victor described shell companies.
Bribes.
Intimidation.
Information gathering.
Then Elena.
“In February, Richard asked me to monitor Elena Moretti. He believed she had discovered financial documents and was preparing to expose him.”
Dominic leaned forward.
“He told me to scare her.”
Exactly what Helen said.
Victor continued.
“I hired two men to follow her. One was instructed to tamper with her vehicle enough to frighten her into believing it was unsafe.”
Rebecca muttered something under her breath.
“The instruction was to loosen a component associated with braking performance, not to cause complete failure.”
Dominic’s hands clenched.
“That distinction means nothing,” Gabriel said.
Victor seemed to know that too.
“I understand how this sounds. I am not excusing it.”
Then came the sentence they needed.
“The day Elena died, Richard called me after learning she had met attorney Margaret Sloan. He said, ‘Do whatever it takes to stop her before tonight.’”
Dominic stopped the video.
Nobody spoke.
He played it again.
Same words.
Do whatever it takes.
Rebecca said, “That’s not necessarily an explicit murder order.”
“It’s close enough for me.”
“For you, yes. For court, context matters.”
Dominic hated that she was right.
They resumed.
Victor explained that he sent one of his men to intercept Elena.
The man followed her in a black sedan.
The goal, Victor claimed, was to force her to stop and take her documents.
Instead, on the wet highway, the sedan struck Elena’s car.
Her vehicle spun into the truck.
Victor insisted he never intended her death.
Richard, according to Victor, responded afterward with only one question.
Did she have the documents?
Dominic closed his eyes.
Not Is she alive?
Not What happened?
Documents.
Victor’s video continued.
“He ordered the sedan destroyed. He arranged pressure on the accident investigation through a retired law-enforcement contact. Later, he had Dominic Moretti’s signature forged on the salvage authorization.”
Rebecca paused the video.
“That’s conspiracy, fraud, obstruction—potentially much more.”
“Where is the sedan?”
Gabriel asked.
The answer came thirty seconds later.
Victor gave an address.
A storage facility in New Jersey.
The car had not been destroyed after all.
Victor kept it.
Insurance against Richard.
By sunset, authorities were involved.
Dominic surrendered copies of everything.
No private revenge.
No threats.
No shortcuts.
Richard had spent his life believing power meant controlling the system.
Dominic would defeat him by letting the system see him.
That evening, Lily sat beside Dominic on the porch.
The chain was gone.
Dominic had ordered the iron post removed too.
In its place, workers were preparing a flower bed.
Lily pointed.
“Flowers?”
“Whatever kind you want.”
“Pink.”
“Of course.”
“And yellow.”
“Done.”
She swung her legs.
Then asked, “Where Bluebell?”
Dominic smiled.
“Close your eyes.”
She covered them dramatically.
Gabriel rolled a bicycle from around the corner.
Not a new one.
The original.
The frame had been repaired.
The bent wheel replaced.
Even the pink ribbon returned.
Dominic had asked a restoration shop to rebuild every piece possible.
“Open.”
Lily gasped.
“BLUEBELL!”
She ran toward it.
Ethan followed.
For five minutes, there was no Richard.
No Victor.
No investigation.
Only children.
Catherine stood beside Dominic.
“She’ll remember this birthday.”
Dominic watched Lily ring the bicycle bell.
“Maybe.”
He looked at the new flower bed.
“But she doesn’t have to remember it the way they wanted.”
His phone rang.
Rebecca.
He answered.
“They found the black sedan.”
Dominic’s smile vanished.
“And?”
“Impact damage matches Pike’s description.”
She paused.
“There are fingerprints inside.”
“Victor?”
“One set is his employee.”
“And the other?”
Rebecca’s voice changed.
“Your father’s.”
Dominic stared into the distance.
Richard had claimed he knew only what Victor told him.
If his fingerprints were inside the car involved in Elena’s death, then Richard had been much closer to the operation than anyone realized.
Dominic looked at Lily.
She laughed as Ethan chased her across the lawn.
Then Rebecca said, “Police are on their way to arrest Richard.”
And for the first time in his life, Dominic didn’t feel like someone’s son.
May you like
He felt like Lily’s father.
That was enough.
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