Chapter 10 - THE ACCOUNT IN MY NAME
I did not sleep.
At three in the morning, I sat at Evelyn's sister's kitchen table with my laptop open and searched six years of financial records.
There was no two-and-a-half-million-dollar deposit.
Of course there was not.
I would have remembered becoming a millionaire overnight.
But the board packet showed something else.
The money had not gone to my normal bank account.
It had gone to a private wealth account at Hanover & Pierce under the name Nia C. Moretti.
I had never banked there.
I had never signed anything there.
I had stopped using Moretti as my surname after the divorce.
At six thirty, Maya arrived with coffee and fury.
She spread the transfer documents across the table.
"This account exists."
"Not mine."
"I believe you."
"Can we prove it?"
"We will."
Luca came at seven.
He stayed near the door until Maya nodded that he could enter.
The fact that he obeyed my lawyer without complaint was almost funny.
"I pulled the originating wire data," he said.
Maya held out a hand.
"Give it to me, not her."
Luca handed over the folder.
"The money came from Moretti Family Holdings."
"Authorized by whom?"
"Veronica."
"Memo?"
"Confidential family settlement."
Maya's eyes hardened.
"Convenient."
"Very."
I looked at Luca.
"Did you know about the transfer then?"
"No."
"Would you have noticed two and a half million leaving?"
"Not from that entity."
I laughed without humor.
"Must be nice."
"Today it feels disgusting."
That shut me up.
Maya tapped the bank name.
"We need opening documents."
Luca said,
"My team requested them."
Maya stared at him.
"Your team?"
"My attorneys."
"Who represent you."
"Yes."
"Then they can send copies to me and stop contacting the bank about my client's alleged account."
Luca nodded.
"Agreed."
Maya looked almost disappointed that he did not argue.
At nine, I took the twins to the independent laboratory.
Luca arrived separately.
The technician explained the process.
Cheek swabs.
Identification.
Sealed samples.
Chain-of-custody signatures.
Mara looked suspiciously at the cotton swab.
"Is this a shot?"
"No," the technician said.
"Promise?"
"Promise."
Eli looked at Luca.
"Do you have to do it too?"
"Yes."
"Good."
"Why good?"
"Because then it is fair."
Luca nodded solemnly.
"Fair enough."
When the technician swabbed Luca's cheek, Mara laughed.
For five minutes, the process almost felt harmless.
Then I signed a form identifying Luca as alleged biological father.
My hand stopped on the word alleged.
Six years of certainty reduced to legal caution.
Luca saw my face.
He did not say anything.
When we left, he asked the twins whether they wanted breakfast.
I checked the time.
"Thirty minutes."
Mara cheered.
We went to a small diner three blocks away.
Luca looked absurdly expensive sitting in a cracked vinyl booth.
Eli asked him what his favorite dinosaur was.
Luca said velociraptor.
Mara said that answer was predictable.
He asked hers.
"Ankylosaurus."
"Why?"
"It has a hammer butt."
Luca choked on coffee.
I laughed before I could stop myself.
For one second, our eyes met across the table.
Something old moved between us.
I looked away first.
At eleven, Maya called.
"We got the bank records."
The warmth disappeared.
"And?"
"The account was opened online and finalized in person."
"By whom?"
"Someone presenting identification in your name."
My stomach turned.
"What identification?"
"A passport copy."
"My passport was never missing."
"Do you remember the passport renewal you did before the divorce?"
I did.
Veronica's assistant had arranged expedited processing before a planned trip to Italy.
The trip never happened.
"Yes."
"A copy of that passport is attached to the account file."
I stared at Luca.
He knew from my face something was wrong.
"Who witnessed the account?"
Maya exhaled.
"A woman named Patricia Hale."
Luca went still.
"My mother's executive assistant."
I closed my eyes.
"Signature?"
"Looks like yours."
"It is not."
"We will get an expert."
"Where did the money go?"
"That is the interesting part."
"I hate when lawyers say that."
"The account held the funds for forty-eight hours."
"Then?"
"Most of it moved into an investment vehicle registered in the Cayman Islands."
"And the rest?"
"One hundred thousand was withdrawn as a cashier's check."
"To whom?"
"Daniel Mercer Consulting."
The diner noise faded.
Luca leaned closer.
"What did she say?"
I put Maya on speaker.
She repeated it.
Luca's face went cold.
"So my mother created an account in Nia's name, moved family money through it, and paid Mercer from it."
"That is one possible interpretation," Maya said.
"It is the obvious interpretation."
"Obvious is not the same as proven."
"Fine."
Luca's jaw clenched.
"What do we need?"
"Bank surveillance, signature analysis, IP logs, and ideally Patricia Hale."
"I know where Patricia is."
"Do not contact her."
Luca stared at the phone.
"Why?"
"Because you are not Batman."
Eli looked up.
"Who is Batman?"
I closed my eyes.
Maya continued,
"Police and counsel will handle witnesses."
Luca muttered,
"Understood."
After breakfast, he left for the board meeting.
I took the twins back to the condo.
At noon, the Moretti Global emergency board session began.
At 12:17, the first financial news alert appeared.
MORETTI FAMILY DISPUTE SPILLS INTO BOARDROOM.
At 12:31, another headline followed.
SOURCE: EX-WIFE RECEIVED SECRET MULTIMILLION-DOLLAR PAYMENT AFTER DIVORCE.
By 12:45, my name was trending.
Maya told me not to respond.
I wanted to scream.
Instead, I made macaroni for the twins.
At 1:08, someone leaked the bank statement.
At 1:14, a television commentator called me a woman with "serious credibility problems."
At 1:20, another commentator asked why a mother would hide billionaire heirs unless money was involved.
I turned off the television.
Mara looked up.
"Are they talking about us?"
"Yes."
"Are they wrong?"
"About a lot of things."
"Then why can they say it?"
I had no answer that would not make the world sound terrible.
At 2:03, Luca called.
His voice was tight.
"The board voted."
"What happened?"
"They froze my mother's discretionary access to family-office investigation budgets pending review."
I exhaled.
"Good."
"They also created an independent committee to examine the transfers."
"Also good."
"My mother resigned from the meeting before the vote."
"Not good."
"No."
"Where is she?"
"We do not know."
I stood.
"You lost your mother?"
"She left through the private garage."
"Security?"
"She dismissed her driver."
"Phone?"
"Off."
A chill moved through me.
"Luca."
"I know."
My phone beeped with another incoming call.
Maya.
I merged the calls.
"What happened?" I asked.
Maya's voice was urgent.
"Patricia Hale just contacted police through an attorney."
Luca spoke.
"Good."
"Not exactly."
"Why?"
"She says Veronica did open the account in Nia's name."
My pulse jumped.
"That is good."
"She also says Nia knew about it."
Silence.
I gripped the counter.
"What?"
Maya continued.
"Patricia claims she met with you in person two days after the divorce and watched you sign the account documents."
I could barely speak.
"That never happened."
"I know what you are saying."
"It never happened."
Luca cut in.
"I believe her."
Maya ignored the reassurance.
"There is more."
"Of course there is."
"Patricia says she has a photograph from the meeting."
My stomach dropped.
"A photograph of me?"
"Yes."
"That is impossible."
Maya's next words made the room feel suddenly too small.
"The police saw it."
May you like
"And?"
"They say the woman in the photograph looks exactly like you."
