Chapter 10 - THE HEARING
Monday morning, the family court hallway was packed with reporters who were not allowed inside the sealed hearing.
That did not stop them from shouting questions as we arrived.
Luca entered through a private security corridor.
I refused to.
Serena tried to change my mind.
“You don't owe anyone a public entrance.”
“I am not sneaking into court because people think I kidnapped my own children.”
“You are not proving anything by getting photographed.”
“Maybe I am proving I still get to walk through a door.”
Serena studied me.
“Fine.”
Marcus walked beside me.
The twins remained with a court-approved child specialist in a private office miles away.
I was grateful for that.
The cameras started flashing before I reached the steps.
Questions came from every direction.
“Did you hide Mr. Moretti's twins for money?”
“Are you seeking half his fortune?”
“Did Mr. Moretti abandon the children?”
“Is Evelyn Moretti divorcing her husband?”
I kept walking.
Then one reporter shouted something different.
“Ms. Carter, did Daniel Shaw pay your fertility clinic for records?”
I stopped.
Serena grabbed my elbow.
“Move.”
That information had not been public.
Not yet.
Someone had leaked again.
Inside, Serena immediately informed Detective Bell.
The leak was now touching evidence from an active investigation.
That meant the source was either law enforcement, one of our legal teams, or someone with access to stolen files.
The circle was getting smaller.
The hearing began at ten.
Judge Rachel Donnelly entered without ceremony.
She was in her late fifties and had the expression of someone who had heard every excuse wealthy families could invent.
Gregory Pike's forged petition sat in front of her.
Evelyn appeared with separate counsel.
Luca appeared with his own.
Serena sat beside me.
The judge looked at the names and then at all of us.
“I want one thing understood before we begin.”
Her voice was calm.
“This courtroom is not a public-relations venue.”
No one moved.
“If any party intends to litigate through leaks, cameras, or financial pressure, I will make that party regret it.”
I liked her immediately.
Evelyn's lawyer presented her sworn repudiation.
Luca's lawyer presented his.
Serena presented evidence connecting the forged school document to Thomas Vale.
The judge's expression hardened.
“Has Mr. Vale been located?”
“No, Your Honor,” Serena said.
“Is law enforcement involved?”
“Yes.”
The judge looked at Evelyn.
“Mrs. Moretti, did you authorize Mr. Pike to initiate any proceeding regarding these children?”
“No, Your Honor.”
“Did you authorize anyone to use your name?”
“No.”
“Did you ask anyone to approach their school?”
“No.”
“Did you know the children existed before Friday?”
“No.”
Her answer was immediate.
The judge looked at Luca.
“Mr. Moretti, when did you learn you were their biological father?”
“Friday afternoon, after testing.”
“And before testing?”
“I suspected it Thursday at lunch.”
“Did you know Ms. Carter had been pregnant at any time after your separation?”
“No.”
Judge Donnelly leaned back.
“That fact is apparently disputed in public coverage.”
“It is not disputed by us,” Luca said.
His lawyer touched his sleeve, warning him not to volunteer.
Luca continued anyway.
“I did not know.”
The judge looked at me.
“Ms. Carter?”
I stood.
“I believe him.”
A murmur moved among the lawyers.
The judge raised an eyebrow.
“That's a significant statement.”
“I have recently seen evidence that a letter I tried to deliver to him was intercepted.”
“Do you maintain that you made reasonable efforts to notify him?”
The question hurt.
Because the honest answer was not as clean as I wanted.
“I made one direct effort.”
“Only one?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
I swallowed.
“Because I believed he had rejected it.”
“Based on?”
“A message that I now believe was fabricated.”
“And after that?”
“I chose not to contact him again.”
Luca looked at me.
The judge did too.
“Why?”
I forced myself to answer without hiding behind Daniel's manipulation.
“Because I was hurt.”
The courtroom became very still.
“Because our marriage had ended badly.”
“Because I was pregnant, alone, and afraid that if I told a billionaire who had already decided he did not love me, he would either reject the children or use his resources to control how I raised them.”
Luca's face tightened.
Judge Donnelly did not look away from me.
“Were you afraid he would harm them?”
“No.”
“Were you afraid he would harm you?”
“No.”
“Then your fear was largely about power and emotional rejection.”
“Yes.”
That truth made me look worse than a conspiracy did.
It was still the truth.
“I made a decision.”
“My children were born premature.”
“I spent weeks in a neonatal unit with no sleep and no idea whether both of them would come home.”
“By the time they did, I had built a life around not needing Luca.”
“And each month I waited made telling him harder.”
“Eventually, I convinced myself silence was stability.”
I looked at Luca.
“I was wrong about that.”
His eyes held mine.
I had never said it to him directly.
The judge made a note.
“Thank you for answering honestly.”
Then she looked at Luca.
“Mr. Moretti, do you intend to seek primary custody?”
My lungs stopped working.
Luca's lawyer whispered something.
Luca shook his head.
“No.”
“Joint physical custody?”
“Not immediately.”
The word immediately landed badly.
I stiffened.
The judge noticed.
“What do you seek?”
“I want legal recognition as their father.”
“I want time with them that increases at a pace appropriate for them.”
“I want access to medical and school information.”
“And I want an order preventing either parent from relocating them out of state without agreement or court approval.”
There it was.
The restriction I feared.
Serena leaned close.
“Stay calm.”
I kept my face still.
Judge Donnelly looked at me.
“Ms. Carter, do you intend to relocate?”
“No.”
“Then the restriction should not burden you.”
“It burdens me because I raised them alone for six years and now someone I have known for four days as their father can ask a court to limit where I live.”
Luca flinched.
The judge considered that.
“Emotionally, I understand.”
“Legally, biology creates interests the court cannot ignore.”
I hated the sentence because it was true.
The forged guardianship petition was dismissed.
Gregory Pike was referred for investigation.
Judge Donnelly appointed Dr. Hannah Mercer as the children's representative and family transition specialist.
Luca received two supervised visits during the following week, with expansion subject to Dr. Mercer's recommendation.
No party could remove the children from Illinois for thirty days.
No party could post photographs or identifying information.
No party could speak publicly about the children's private lives.
The order was reasonable.
It still felt like losing control of a life I had built alone.
Outside the courtroom, Luca approached me before security separated us from the press.
“I meant what I said.”
“What part?”
“I am not trying to take them from you.”
“Not immediately.”
He heard the bitterness.
“That was not what I meant.”
“It is what you said.”
“Nia.”
“Do you know what I heard in there?”
His face tightened.
“I heard that four days after discovering my children, you already have legal language for limiting where I can take them.”
“They are my children too.”
“And there it is.”
“What am I supposed to say?”
“Maybe nothing.”
“Six years of nothing is enough.”
The words struck hard.
We stared at each other.
His regret appeared instantly.
Mine did too.
Serena stepped between us.
“Not here.”
Luca backed away.
Then Detective Bell approached him from the hallway.
“Mr. Moretti, I need a word.”
Luca looked at me once before following Bell.
I thought the day could not become worse.
I was wrong.
Twenty minutes later, Serena received an electronic filing notification.
Luca's attorneys had opened a parentage action.
I stared at the screen.
“He told me he wasn't seeking custody.”
“He isn't.”
“Then what is this?”
“It is the legal case that establishes his parental rights.”
“He couldn't wait until tomorrow?”
Serena looked tired.
“Nia, this was always coming.”
I knew that.
Emotion did not care.
Then she opened the petition.
One section requested joint legal decision-making after an introductory period.
Another requested a structured path toward unsupervised parenting time.
And another requested that the twins' legal surnames eventually be amended to include Moretti.
My vision blurred.
He wanted their names.
Names I had chosen while sitting alone beside incubators.
Names printed on every school form, every birthday invitation, every pediatric record.
Carter.
Mine.
I called Luca.
He did not answer.
I called again.
Nothing.
On the third attempt, his security chief answered.
“Ms. Carter?”
“Where is Luca?”
A pause.
“He is with police.”
“Why?”
The pause became longer.
Then the man said, “They are executing a search warrant at Moretti Global.”
My anger vanished.
“For what?”
“I don't know.”
He did know.
I could hear it.
Before I could press him, news alerts began appearing.
Federal agents and Chicago police were entering Moretti Global headquarters.
The warrant concerned historical computer access and possible destruction of evidence.
The same building where my pregnancy had disappeared six years ago was now being searched from top to bottom.
May you like
And according to the first report, investigators were focusing on Luca's current general counsel.
A man Luca trusted more than Victor Kane.
