Chapter 10 - Evelyn’s Marriage
That evening, Evelyn asked to speak to me alone.
We stood on the terrace outside Lena’s office, Chicago lights burning below us.
“You think I’m part of this,” she said.
“I think everyone around Luca has an angle.”
“Fair.”
She leaned against the railing.
“My marriage to him was supposed to last three years.”
I looked at her.
“We signed a private agreement before the wedding. No children. Separate finances. Public partnership, private independence.”
“You expect me to believe Luca married for business?”
“You were married to him. You know what grief does to him. He turns pain into deals.”
I hated that she was right.
“Did you love him?”
Evelyn smiled sadly. “Not in the way you mean.”
“Did he love you?”
“No.”
The answer hurt anyway.
She continued, “He respected me. I respected him. That was enough until Victor started pushing us to have a child.”
My eyes narrowed.
“He what?”
“He became obsessed with succession. Said investors needed stability. He arranged fertility consultations without asking us.”
“And Luca?”
“Refused.”
That surprised me.
Evelyn looked through the glass door toward him.
“He told Victor once, ‘I already failed one woman over children. I won’t turn another woman into a breeding plan.’”
I looked away.
There are apologies that arrive too late and still find a place to hurt you.
Evelyn handed me a flash drive.
“What is this?”
“My copy of Victor’s archive.”
“You trust me with it?”
“I trust you more than the company.”
Then the terrace door opened.
Lena stepped outside.
“We have a problem.”
Her face was tight.
“The police released the man from Nia’s building pending charges.”
“What?”
“His lawyer produced records claiming Luca’s security department sent him to retrieve stolen corporate property.”
Luca appeared behind her.
“Whose signature?”
Lena held up the authorization.
Everyone stared at it.
May you like
It carried Luca Moretti’s digital signature.
Perfectly authenticated.
