Chapter 5 - The Trap
The agents entered the townhouse ten minutes later.
Dominic stepped between them and me.
“Show me the warrant.”
The lead investigator did.
His eyes moved between us.
“Mr. Moretti, you need to come with us.”
“For what?”
“Questioning.”
Dominic glanced at me.
“What about her?”
The investigator looked at me.
“Mrs. Moretti is part of the inquiry.”
Dominic stepped forward.
“She has nothing to do with this.”
The investigator held up a document.
“Her signature appears on fourteen financial transfers.”
I spoke.
“They're forged.”
“We'll determine that.”
Dominic's jaw tightened.
“Take me.”
“That's not how this works.”
They separated us.
Before they took me outside, Dominic grabbed my hand.
“Don't say anything without your attorney.”
“I know.”
“You're not alone.”
I looked at him.
“Neither are you.”
We were taken to separate buildings.
I was questioned for three hours.
They asked about my marriage.
My role in Moretti Holdings.
My access to financial accounts.
My relationship with Marco.
Then they placed a document in front of me.
My signature.
It looked perfect.
Too perfect.
I studied it.
“Where did you get this?”
“The company archive.”
I pointed to the signature.
“This isn't my signature.”
“Why?”
“Because I always sign with an angled line at the end.”
The investigator looked confused.
I smiled faintly.
“After seven years of signing Moretti documents, I know my own signature.”
He slid another page toward me.
This one was also forged.
But there was something else.
The ink.
It had been printed.
Not signed.
Digital reproduction.
I said, “You need to check the printer logs.”
The investigator leaned forward.
“Why?”
“Because whoever made these didn't understand how I work.”
“Explain.”
“I never sign financial approvals in the office.”
“Where?”
“By hand, after reviewing the full paperwork at home.”
The investigator paused.
“And you kept copies?”
“Always.”
He looked at his assistant.
That was the moment I knew the case against me wasn't as strong as they believed.
Then the door opened.
My attorney entered.
He put a file on the table.
“We have a problem.”
I looked at him.
“What?”
“Dominic has been arrested.”
My heart stopped.
“On what charge?”
“Obstruction.”
I closed my eyes.
Marco had moved faster than we expected.
Then my attorney placed another document in front of me.
A confession.
Signed by Dominic.
I stared at it.
“He didn't sign this.”
“I know.”
“Then why does it have his name?”
“Because Marco has one thing Dominic never thought anyone could use against him.”
“What?”
“His old signature archive.”
My breathing changed.
Dominic had once used a private encrypted system to store legal signatures.
Marco had access.
I stood.
“Where is Dominic?”
“Federal holding.”
“We need to expose the forged signatures.”
“We're trying.”
“No.”
I shook my head.
“We need to find who created them.”
My attorney frowned.
I turned to him.
“Who has access to Dominic's old signature archive?”
He paused.
“Richard Hayes.”
Exactly.
Meanwhile, Dominic sat alone in a holding room.
For the first time in his life, he had no phone.
No guards.
No employees.
No money.
No influence.
Only his thoughts.
And they all led back to me.
He remembered every time I had waited for him.
Every dinner he'd missed.
Every apology he had postponed.
Every woman he'd allowed too close.
He finally understood something devastating.
I had never fought those women because I was afraid of losing him.
I had fought because she believed he was mine.
He had mistaken loyalty for weakness.
And now, when his world was collapsing, the woman he had pushed away was the only person still fighting for him.
Hours later, my investigation led me to Richard.
He had fled.
His apartment was empty.
But the safe was open.
Inside was a single envelope.
Sienna's name.
And a photograph.
A photograph of Dominic holding a newborn baby.
I stared at it.
My hands trembled.
The child was real.
But it wasn't Sienna's.
It was Dominic's.
The photograph had been taken seven years earlier.
The date on the back made my stomach drop.
Three days before my wedding.
I turned the photograph over.
A handwritten note was attached.
Vivian was never supposed to know.
My heart hammered.
There was a baby.
May you like
Dominic had a child.
And I had never known.
