Chapter 8
Adrian’s explanation came slowly.
He did not want custody.
He wanted control.
That distinction disgusted Laura more.
Claire had threatened to tell Megan everything after Emma’s birth.
Adrian panicked.
He visited the hospital.
He proposed taking Emma temporarily while Claire recovered.
Claire refused.
She told staff not to release the baby to him.
Megan stared at her husband.
“You tried to take her.”
“I was trying to stop Claire from detonating our marriage.”
“So you were going to hide the baby?”
“For a few days.”
Laura’s expression went cold.
“A human being isn't a document you move into another office.”
Adrian looked at her.
“You run this family like everything is movable.”
Laura did not answer immediately.
Because part of the accusation was true.
Adrian saw the hesitation.
He pressed.
“You relocate people. Close accounts. Remove access. Decide who is safe.”
His voice steadied.
“You think you're different because you call it protection.”
Laura’s fingers stopped against her ring.
Megan looked between them.
Power shifted again.
Adrian had committed betrayal.
But he understood Laura’s weaknesses.
That made him dangerous.
Laura finally spoke.
“Maybe.”
Adrian frowned.
“I’ll examine mine.”
Her gaze hardened.
“You don't get to hide behind them.”
His jaw tightened.
Counsel then produced Claire’s final financial records.
Adrian paid almost $120,000 over the pregnancy.
But three weeks before Claire’s accident, the payments stopped.
Claire had sent him an email.
No more money. I will tell Megan myself.
Adrian replied:
Do that and you destroy all three of us.
Megan’s hand began trembling.
“Three?”
Claire.
Adrian.
Megan.
He had framed truth as mutual destruction.
That explained his desperation.
But another email followed.
Claire:
Then stop using foundation money.
Laura’s eyes narrowed.
Adrian looked away.
The hush payments had not come from a discretionary personal fund.
They came from the Moretti Family Relief Foundation.
A charity.
Adrian had disguised payments to Claire as emergency housing grants.
Megan inhaled sharply.
“You stole from the foundation too.”
“I reimbursed it.”
“How?”
Silence.
Laura ordered the historical accounts reviewed.
Within hours, auditors found replacement deposits.
All made shortly after Claire’s death.
Source:
Megan’s private investment account.
She stared at the records.
“I never made those transfers.”
Adrian’s face changed.
Laura saw it.
Megan’s eyes moved toward him.
“You used my account.”
May you like
Adrian had hidden the affair by stealing charity money—
then hidden the theft by secretly taking money from his own wife.
