Chapter 6 - THE SIGNATURE
Ethan denied it.
At first.
“I didn’t touch her trust.”
Amelia lifted her phone.
“The request came from your corporate office.”
“That proves nothing.”
“It used your credentials.”
Ethan looked at Richard.
His father said nothing.
That silence said everything.
I felt strangely calm.
“You used my name.”
Ethan turned to me.
“Mara, listen.”
“No.”
“I can explain.”
“Then explain why someone using your account tried to move money I didn’t even know existed.”
“I thought it was different money.”
I stared at him.
Different money.
Not innocent.
Just a different theft.
“What money?”
Ethan rubbed both hands over his face.
“The Bennett investment account.”
My stomach dropped.
“You knew about that?”
“Only recently.”
“How?”
He hesitated.
“Vanessa found records.”
Luka laughed once without humor.
“Your mistress found your wife’s inheritance?”
“She works in compliance.”
“Vanessa is your executive assistant.”
Ethan’s jaw tightened.
“She found the files.”
I finally understood.
The affair and the money had become tangled together.
Maybe they had always been tangled.
“You planned to leave me after you got access.”
“No.”
“Then why create a fake paternity test?”
Ethan went completely still.
Richard turned toward him.
“What test?”
Now it was Ethan’s turn to look afraid.
Luka folded his arms.
“Interesting.”
Richard grabbed his son’s shoulder.
“What did you do?”
Ethan shook him off.
“I was protecting myself.”
“From what?”
“Mara was keeping secrets.”
I actually laughed.
“I didn’t even know I owned this house.”
“You had accounts you never disclosed.”
“I didn’t know they existed.”
“You expect me to believe that?”
“Yes.”
My voice broke.
“Because unlike you, I trusted my husband.”
Silence followed.
Ethan looked away first.
Richard stepped back toward his car.
Luka stopped him with one sentence.
“You’re not leaving with the M-17 copy.”
Richard froze.
My pulse jumped.
Amelia whispered, “Luka.”
But Luka kept watching Richard.
“You brought it because you assumed Mara would exchange her trust claim for the file.”
Richard’s hand moved toward his jacket.
Luka’s security men stepped forward.
Ethan stared at his father.
“You have M-17?”
Richard’s face hardened.
“Get in the car.”
“No.”
Ethan stepped between us.
“You’ve spent six months telling me Moretti was trying to destroy us.”
“He is.”
“Why does he know Mara’s father?”
Richard’s control finally cracked.
“Because Daniel Bennett ruined everything.”
I felt as though someone had struck me.
“My father did what?”
Richard pointed toward Luka.
“Ask him who Daniel really worked for.”
I turned.
Luka said nothing.
That hurt.
“You told me he helped your family.”
“He did.”
“Did he work for them?”
Luka’s silence answered.
Richard laughed bitterly.
“There it is.”
I looked at Luka.
“Who was my father?”
Luka met my eyes.
“He was a federal forensic accountant.”
Everything inside me stopped.
“He was investigating Moretti Holdings?”
“At first.”
“And later?”
“He was investigating Richard.”
Richard opened his car door.
Before climbing inside, he looked at me.
“If you want the rest, ask Moretti why your mother’s name never appeared on your original birth certificate.”
Then he drove away.
I stood frozen on the porch.
Ethan remained behind.
For once, abandoned by the father he had spent his life obeying.
I turned to Luka.
“My mother raised me for sixteen years.”
“I know.”
“Then why wouldn’t her name be on my birth certificate?”
Luka looked toward Sophie.
“Because M-17 wasn’t originally your file.”
My chest tightened.
“Whose was it?”
May you like
He answered softly.
“Your mother’s.”
