Chapter 6 - The Woman Behind the LieThe truth about Lucas did not remain private for long.
Vincent tried to protect him.
He instructed his attorneys to keep the proceedings confidential and asked his household staff not to discuss the situation.
But someone leaked enough information for a Chicago gossip website to publish a story.
MORETTI HEIR'S PATERNITY QUESTIONED AMID FAMILY LEGAL BATTLE.
Within hours, reporters gathered outside Vincent's estate.
Photographers followed Sophia's car.
And Lucas, a seven-year-old boy who had done nothing wrong, became the subject of public speculation.
When I saw the headlines, I called Vincent.
"Get Lucas out of that house."
His voice was exhausted.
"He's with his tutor."
"Then get him somewhere private."
"I'm trying."
"Don't try. Protect him."
There was a long silence.
Then he said, "You still care about him."
"He's a child."
"Even after everything?"
"Especially after everything."
Vincent exhaled shakily.
"Claire, I don't know how you became this strong."
I looked toward the kitchen, where Emily was helping Madison bake cookies.
"I had to."
The investigation continued.
The medical consultant who had received the suspicious payments was located in Arizona.
His attorney negotiated a meeting with investigators.
What emerged was not a simple affair.
It was a carefully constructed deception involving falsified financial paperwork, misleading statements, and a deliberate effort to convince Vincent that Lucas was his biological heir.
Sophia had been involved with another man before becoming pregnant.
His name was Daniel Mercer.
He had worked as a financial analyst for one of Vincent's legitimate companies.
Daniel was intelligent, ambitious, and deeply in debt.
Sophia had promised him that they would eventually leave Chicago together.
But when she discovered she was pregnant, she saw a more profitable opportunity.
Vincent Moretti.
A powerful husband.
A fortune.
A son who could inherit everything.
According to the evidence investigators collected, Sophia had persuaded Daniel to remain silent in exchange for money.
My parents had helped her.
That revelation hurt more than I expected.
My mother had known.
My father had approved payments.
And both had watched me suffer while protecting Sophia's plan.
I met my parents in Madison's office.
My father looked older.
My mother wore the same pearl necklace she had worn to my wedding.
For several minutes, nobody spoke.
Then my mother said, "Claire, we made mistakes."
I stared at her.
"Mistakes?"
"We were trying to protect the family."
"Which family?"
She looked offended.
"Don't speak to me that way."
I leaned forward.
"You stood beside my hospital bed while I begged my husband not to leave. You told me his mistress's baby mattered more than mine."
My father lowered his head.
My mother remained silent.
"You knew Lucas might not be Vincent's son."
She swallowed.
"We didn't know for certain."
"But you knew Sophia was involved with Daniel."
"Yes."
"And you said nothing."
"We thought it would work out."
I laughed.
It was a terrible sound.
"Work out for whom?"
My mother began crying.
"We loved both of you."
"No," I said quietly. "You protected one daughter by sacrificing the other."
My father finally spoke.
"Claire, we were afraid of Vincent."
"Then why did you encourage Sophia to deceive him?"
He looked away.
I understood.
Money.
Status.
Influence.
The same things that had mattered more than my happiness.
I stood.
My mother reached for me.
"Please don't take our granddaughter away from us."
I looked at her hand.
"You never came to meet her."
She froze.
"Seven birthdays," I continued. "Seven Christmases. Seven years. You knew where we lived. You never called."
Tears slid down her cheeks.
"We thought you hated us."
"I did."
My voice trembled.
"But I still waited for you to care."
My father began to cry.
For one moment, I was fourteen again, watching my parents bring Sophia into our home and promising myself I would be a good sister.
Then I remembered the hospital.
And Emily.
And every lonely night that followed.
"I hope you both find a way to live with what you've done."
I walked out.
Two days later, Daniel Mercer agreed to cooperate with investigators.
He confirmed that Lucas was his biological son.
He also admitted that he had received payments to remain silent.
But during his interview, he revealed something even more disturbing.
Sophia had not merely wanted Vincent's fortune.
She had been planning to gain control of the Moretti Educational Foundation.
And Emily's scholarship award had threatened that plan.
Because the foundation's governing documents contained a provision that neither Vincent nor I had understood.
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A provision concerning his legally recognized children.
A provision Sophia had spent seven years trying to manipulate.
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