Chapter 4 - THE TRUST
Lucy had a trust because her mother was dead.
Elena D'Angelo died in a car crash four years earlier, leaving half her family's manufacturing company to Lucy.
At age nine, Lucy's voting shares would move into a protected structure no outside guardian could touch.
Her ninth birthday was seven weeks away.
Maya placed the red-folder documents beside the trust agreement.
"There it is."
Vittorio understood.
"A deadline."
"If you're declared temporarily unfit before Lucy turns nine, a court could appoint an emergency guardian. If that guardian is Bianca and the financial controller is Marcus, they gain leverage over the trust."
"How much?"
Maya looked at him.
"Current value? About eighty-two million dollars."
Vittorio's jaw tightened.
Bianca had always said she loved Lucy.
Marcus had been at Vittorio's side since he was twenty-six.
Money did not create betrayal.
It revealed what betrayal had been waiting for.
Emma entered carrying a laundry bag.
Inside were copies of invoices she had found in Bianca's dressing room.
Private investigator fees.
Payments to a child psychologist Lucy had never seen.
A consulting company called North Bridge Family Services.
Maya searched the company.
It belonged to Dr. Aaron Kessler, a psychologist who often testified in custody cases.
"They're preparing expert testimony," Maya said.
Vittorio stood.
Emma stopped him.
"There's more."
From the bag she removed a small voice recorder.
"Clara left this behind the night she disappeared."
Vittorio pressed play.
Static.
Then Clara's voice.
"I saw Ms. Moretti put something in Mr. D'Angelo's whiskey. I told Mr. Hale. He told me I misunderstood."
A man's voice answered in the background.
Marcus.
"You should leave this family before you become a problem."
The recording ended.
Vittorio looked at Emma.
"When was this?"
"The night of your engagement party."
He remembered that night.
He had become dizzy, confused, furious for no reason he could explain.
And Bianca had recorded every minute on her phone.
Maya whispered, "They didn't just document your instability."
May you like
She looked at the recorder.
"They may have manufactured it."
