Chapter 4 - The Billionaire Who Lost His ThroneAlexander Moretti was removed as chief executive of Moretti International on a Thursday morning.
His own father cast the deciding vote.
I learned from the news.
MORETTI CEO STEPS DOWN AMID GOVERNANCE INVESTIGATION
The official statement called it a temporary leave.
Everyone knew what it meant.
Alexander had used corporate aircraft, staff, and overseas properties while lying to the board about the nature of his travel.
He had not stolen billions.
He had not destroyed the company.
But he had behaved as though his personal desires mattered more than rules everyone else was expected to follow.
The board finally told him no.
For perhaps the first time in his adult life, no amount of power could make the answer disappear.
Dad watched the news with satisfaction.
I didn’t.
That irritated me.
“You feel sorry for him,” Dad said.
“No.”
“You’re staring at the screen like someone shot his dog.”
“I don’t enjoy watching the father of my child self-destruct.”
“That is a surprisingly generous distinction.”
I turned the television off.
“What happens to the company?”
“It survives.”
“And Alexander?”
Dad shrugged.
“That depends on Alexander.”
The following afternoon was his scheduled visit with Ellie.
I expected him to cancel.
At exactly two o’clock, Alexander walked through the door.
No driver.
No security team visible.
No suit.
He wore dark jeans and a gray sweater.
I stared.
“What?”
“Nothing.”
“You’re staring at me.”
“You look unemployed.”
For half a second, he looked shocked.
Then he laughed.
I hadn’t meant to be funny.
But hearing him laugh loosened something inside me.
“How bad is it?” I asked.
“Bad.”
“Your father voted against you.”
“Yes.”
“That must hurt.”
“I deserved it.”
I hated hearing that sentence.
Not because it was wrong.
Because I wanted to argue with him.
That frightened me.
Ellie was asleep.
Alexander sat beside her bassinet.
“I don’t know what to do with myself.”
I folded my arms.
“You’ve been unemployed for thirty hours.”
“Thirty-seven.”
“Tragic.”
“I made breakfast.”
“Congratulations.”
“I don’t know how the toaster works.”
I stared at him.
“You own hotels.”
“I don’t personally prepare breakfast in them.”
“You’re thirty-six years old.”
“I’m aware.”
I started laughing.
I couldn’t stop.
Alexander watched me.
Slowly, he smiled.
The moment became intimate.
Too intimate.
I stood.
“I’m getting coffee.”
“I can make it.”
“No.”
“Why?”
“Because apparently appliances are challenging for you.”
He followed me into the small kitchen connected to the visitation suite.
“You’re enjoying this.”
“A little.”
“I’ve had a terrible week.”
“You cheated on your pregnant wife for four months.”
He winced.
“Fair.”
“Stop saying that.”
“What would you prefer?”
“I don’t know.”
I poured coffee.
Alexander became serious.
“I started therapy.”
My hand stopped.
“You?”
“Yes.”
“Voluntarily?”
“Yes.”
“Were you kidnapped?”
He almost smiled.
“No.”
“Why?”
“Because I don’t understand why I did what I did.”
I looked at him.
“You wanted Sophia.”
“Yes.”
“That seems easy to understand.”
“It isn’t.”
He leaned against the counter.
“I loved you.”
“Past tense?”
His eyes locked on mine.
“No.”
My heart kicked.
Alexander continued before I could respond.
“I love you. I also betrayed you. Both things are true, which means loving you didn’t make me good to you.”
I said nothing.
“I need to understand why.”
“Maybe you’re just selfish.”
“Probably.”
Despite myself, I smiled.
He didn’t.
“I spent my entire life believing if I wanted two things badly enough, I could somehow keep both.”
“You wanted a wife and a mistress.”
“Yes.”
“At least therapy is improving your honesty.”
He looked down.
“I thought compartmentalizing made me powerful.”
“And?”
“It made me a coward.”
I had no response.
He looked toward the room where Ellie slept.
“My therapist asked what I was most afraid of.”
“What did you say?”
“Losing you.”
“That already happened.”
“I know.”
He nodded.
“Then he asked what I was afraid of before I lost you.”
That interested me.
“And?”
Alexander was silent.
Finally, he said, “Being ordinary.”
I stared at him.
He laughed bitterly.
“My father built the company. My grandfather built the original real-estate business. I grew up in rooms where everyone expected me to be exceptional.”
“What does that have to do with Sophia?”
“With you, I was ordinary.”
I almost became angry.
Then he explained.
“You cared whether I remembered milk.”
My lips parted.
“You complained when I left socks beside the bed.”
“You still do that?”
“Apparently.”
“You’re disgusting.”
“Claire.”
I smiled despite myself.
Alexander continued.
“You needed me to be present, not impressive.”
My smile faded.
“Sophia made me feel impressive.”
There it was.
“She wanted restaurants closed for us. Jets. Villas. Jewelry. Secrecy made everything feel exciting.”
“And pregnancy didn’t.”
His face changed.
“No.”
“That’s what you mean.”
“No.”
“You were scared.”
“Yes.”
I had not expected the admission.
Alexander lowered his voice.
“I was terrified.”
“Of being a father?”
“Yes.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Because you were happy.”
“So?”
“Because you looked at me like I was going to be good at it.”
My eyes burned.
“You could have told me you were scared.”
“I know.”
“We could have been scared together.”
“I know.”
Instead, he ran.
Not from me.
From responsibility.
Sophia had simply offered a beautiful destination.
I hated that understanding him made everything more painful.
Ellie began crying.
Alexander immediately turned.
“I’ve got her.”
I almost said no.
Then I stopped.
“Okay.”
He picked her up carefully.
She screamed harder.
Alexander panicked.
“What’s wrong?”
“She hates unemployed men.”
“Claire.”
I laughed.
“Check her diaper.”
He looked horrified.
“You said you wanted to be present.”
“I do.”
“Congratulations.”
I handed him the diaper bag.
Ten minutes later, one of Chicago’s most famous billionaires was standing over a changing table saying, “How can something this small produce this much?”
I laughed so hard I had to sit down.
Alexander glared at me.
“This is not funny.”
“It absolutely is.”
Ellie kicked.
Disaster nearly spread.
“Oh, God.”
“Move faster.”
“I’m trying.”
For fifteen minutes, we were not betrayed wife and unfaithful husband.
We were just two exhausted new parents.
Then his phone buzzed.
The room changed again.
Alexander ignored it.
“It could be important.”
“So is this.”
He finished fastening Ellie’s onesie.
That tiny decision stayed with me.
Months earlier, he had made himself unavailable to his pregnant wife because Sophia mattered more.
Now his entire empire was in crisis.
And he ignored his phone to finish changing his daughter.
It did not erase anything.
But it mattered.
When the visit ended, Alexander handed Ellie back.
“Claire?”
“Yes?”
“I’m going to sign the divorce agreement.”
My chest tightened.
“You weren’t fighting it.”
“I know.”
“I mean all of it.”
I stared.
“The settlement. The property division. Everything your attorney requested.”
“Why?”
“Because you deserve the freedom to decide what happens next without wondering whether I’m using money to keep you tied to me.”
I looked away.
“You’re still Ellie’s father.”
“I know.”
“That ties us together.”
His expression softened.
“Then let that be the only tie you didn’t choose.”
He walked toward the door.
“Alexander.”
He stopped.
I had no idea what I wanted to say.
So I said the safest thing.
“Your sweater has spit-up on it.”
He looked down.
A white stain covered his shoulder.
Alexander smiled.
“I’m keeping it.”
Then he left.
And three days later, he signed every page.
May you like
Our divorce was moving forward.
The strangest part was that I had never felt less certain about what I wanted after it was finished.
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