Chapter 6 - My Mother Left Me a Secret Worth Billions, and Gideon Moretti Would Kill to Keep Me From Finding ItMy mother's final letter arrived three days later.
It had been kept in a bank vault.
The key was hidden in the lining of a dress I had worn to my eighteenth birthday.
The letter was short.
“Never trust a man who says family makes you powerless.”
I cried before finishing it.
She had known.
She knew Richard was being manipulated.
She knew Gideon Moretti existed.
And she knew the Moretti family and Brooks family had once been connected.
The final pages explained why.
Twenty-five years earlier, my mother and Adrien's father had created a private investment trust.
It held patents, land rights and shares in several transportation companies.
Its value was enormous.
But they had put the trust in my name.
Not because I was older.
Because I was the only child they believed neither family could control.
That trust was the real prize.
My mother had hidden it until I turned thirty-five.
I had.
The trust was now legally mine.
And suddenly every piece made sense.
Victor wanted my marriage.
Crane wanted my shares.
Gideon wanted access to the trust.
And my father had spent years trying to control me.
But why the baby?
Because the trust had a succession clause.
If I died before activating it, control passed to my unborn child.
I stared at Adrien.
“That's why.”
He nodded.
“Your child becomes the next trustee.”
“But our daughter is unborn.”
“They would control everything until she became an adult.”
I felt sick.
“I was never the target.”
“You were the lock.”
“And she was the key.”
Adrien took my hand.
“No.”
I looked at him.
“They don't get her.”
That afternoon, we activated the trust.
A team of attorneys gathered.
Documents were signed.
Assets moved.
For the first time, I understood the scale of my mother's decision.
Commercial buildings.
Patents.
Port contracts.
Investment shares.
Real estate.
The total value exceeded four hundred million dollars.
I stared at the number.
I felt nothing.
Then I looked at Adrien.
“You knew?”
“No.”
“Neither did my father.”
“No.”
“Then my mother outplayed all of them.”
He smiled.
“She did.”
But there was a problem.
The trust could be challenged if Gideon proved I was under coercion.
That meant he would try to make it appear that Adrien was controlling me.
The easiest way?
Destroy our relationship publicly.
A week later, photographs appeared online.
Adrien kissing another woman.
The headline claimed he had been seeing her for months.
I stared at the screen.
My chest tightened.
It was a lie.
But it looked real.
Adrien walked into the room.
“Don't believe it.”
“I don't.”
He stopped.
“What?”
“You heard me.”
He stared.
“I know you.”
“You do?”
“Yes.”
I put the phone down.
“He never knew me.”
Adrien smiled.
“Who?”
“My husband.”
I laughed bitterly.
“I spent years believing I had to be thin, pretty, agreeable and quiet to deserve love.”
He stepped closer.
“You don't.”
“I know.”
He touched my face.
“You don't have to compete with anyone.”
“I know.”
He kissed me.
The moment became peaceful.
Then security interrupted.
“Mr. Moretti.”
“What?”
“Gideon sent a message.”
Adrien read it.
His expression changed.
“He has your father.”
My heart dropped.
“He took Richard.”
“Yes.”
“He wants the trust.”
Adrien looked at me.
“Then we give him something.”
“What?”
“Me.”
I shook my head.
“No.”
“I know how he thinks.”
“You're not going.”
“I have to.”
“No.”
Adrien looked at me.
“Then come with me.”
I stared.
The old Elena would have been terrified.
The woman who had once run from a conference room barefoot was gone.
May you like
I nodded.
“Let's finish this.”
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