Chapter 7 - The Woman Who Wanted Simone's InheritanceClaudia Carter had been missing for twenty-five years.
She was Jonathan's younger sister.
Brilliant.
Ambitious.
Dangerous.
She had vanished after Jonathan exposed the financial conspiracy.
Adrian found her within forty-eight hours.
She was living under another name in Connecticut.
She did not resist arrest.
Instead, she requested one thing.
“To see Simone.”
Simone agreed.
The meeting took place in a secure interview room.
Claudia looked at her for a long time.
“You look like your father.”
Simone sat across from her.
“Did you kill Adrian's father?”
“No.”
“But you ordered it.”
Claudia smiled sadly.
“I ordered fear.”
“What's the difference?”
“Fear was supposed to make him surrender the trust.”
“And my father?”
“He chose to protect you.”
Simone clenched her hands.
“You destroyed my life.”
“No.”
Claudia leaned forward.
“Someone else did.”
“What do you mean?”
“Your mother.”
Simone froze.
“My mother protected you by making you invisible.”
“She lied to me.”
“She kept you alive.”
Claudia revealed the final secret.
The Carter family had no biological connection to Simone.
Her mother had secretly adopted her.
Simone's real father was a Romano heir.
Lorenzo's younger brother, Anthony Romano.
Anthony had died before Adrian was born.
His daughter had vanished.
That daughter was Simone.
She was Adrian's cousin.
Not a romantic complication.
Because they were not biologically related in the way the old records suggested.
The original family documents had been deliberately falsified.
Simone was Anthony's adopted child, but not biologically related to the Romano bloodline.
Claudia had manufactured contradictory records to confuse investigators.
The trust had been assigned to Simone because Lorenzo believed she represented the family he wanted to protect, not because of blood.
Adrian finally understood.
The secret was never about DNA.
It was about choice.
His father had wanted someone outside the old power structure to inherit the family's future.
Someone untouched by the greed that had corrupted it.
Simone.
Adrian looked at her after the interview.
“You were never just an employee.”
She smiled sadly.
“I know.”
“You were the future my father believed in.”
She shook her head.
“No.”
She took his hand.
“I was the future he hoped you would choose.”
Adrian kissed her forehead.
Then his phone rang.
May you like
Marcus Kane had escaped custody.
And he was coming for Simone.
