Chapter 2
Adrian tried to leave.
Laura did not order anyone to stop him.
She simply looked toward the doors.
Two bodyguards stepped in front of them.
Adrian gave a humorless smile.
“So this is an interrogation now?”
Laura shifted Emma higher against her chest.
“No.”
Her eyes remained on him.
“This is the moment before one.”
Megan’s breathing became sharper.
“Emma shouldn't be hearing this.”
Laura looked at her.
“For once, we agree.”
She handed Emma to Sofia, the longtime nanny standing behind the capos.
Laura kissed the child’s temple.
Emma whispered something into her ear.
Laura’s expression softened.
Then hardened again after the child left.
She walked toward Adrian.
“When did you meet Claire Bennett?”
He rubbed one thumb over his wedding ring.
“Years ago.”
“How?”
“Foundation work.”
Megan watched his hand.
Laura noticed that too.
“How well?”
Adrian looked toward his wife.
Megan’s jaw tightened.
That answered enough to make Laura continue.
The archivist recovered old event photographs.
Claire appeared frequently.
Foundation dinners.
Hospital fundraisers.
Youth programs.
Then a photograph stopped everyone.
Claire and Adrian stood together at a summer benefit.
Not inappropriate.
Not visibly intimate.
But Adrian’s hand rested against the small of her back.
Megan stood several yards behind them.
Watching.
Laura looked at the date.
Four years earlier.
Approximately nine months before Emma’s birth.
Adrian saw the calculation happen.
His voice hardened.
“Don't.”
Laura’s eyes lifted.
“Don't what?”
“Turn photographs into something they aren't.”
Megan laughed quietly.
Not because anything was funny.
Because tension had become too sharp.
Laura turned toward her.
“You think I’m wrong?”
Megan’s lips pressed together.
“No.”
Adrian looked at her.
That answer hit him.
Laura waited.
Megan finally said:
“Claire was my half-sister.”
Nobody moved.
Laura stared at her.
Megan continued reluctantly.
“My father had another daughter before he married my mother.”
Laura looked again at Claire’s photograph.
“Emma’s birth mother was your sister.”
“Yes.”
“And you watched me adopt her without telling me.”
Megan’s breathing changed.
“You wanted a child.”
Laura’s face became completely still.
“That is not an explanation.”
Megan looked away.
Laura’s voice lowered.
“That is an excuse.”
Adrian stepped forward.
“Claire wanted privacy.”
“Then show me where she asked for it.”
Silence.
Laura turned toward the archivist.
“Adoption records.”
Those were not held by the Moretti library, but Laura’s attorney retrieved the agency summary from her private files.
One line mattered.
Birth mother had limited known family contact. No suitable relative placement identified.
Laura looked toward Megan.
“You were alive.”
Megan said nothing.
“You were financially stable.”
Still nothing.
“You were her sister.”
Her hands tightened.
Laura’s voice became softer.
“Why does Emma’s file say no relative placement existed?”
Megan looked at Adrian.
The same glance.
Again.
Then Laura’s attorney called from the edge of the room.
“There’s something else.”
She held up the file.
“The adoption agency received a confidential placement recommendation.”
Laura turned.
“From who?”
The attorney read the name.
“Megan Moretti.”
Laura slowly looked back at her sister-in-law.
May you like
Megan had not merely known about Emma’s adoption.
She had personally recommended that Laura become the child’s mother.
