Chapter 11
Adrian resigned from every Moretti Holdings position before the board could remove him.
He also surrendered his family rank.
The second decision was not legally required.
Rocco required it.
“You used the family structure to pressure company employees and bypass controls.”
Adrian nodded.
“You don’t get to keep the authority that made that possible.”
For the first time in thirty years, Adrian Moretti became a man without a title.
His attorney negotiated cooperation with investigators.
Adrian turned over vendor records, private emails, and details of the altered approval process.
He did not receive immunity.
Rocco refused to ask for it.
Celeste’s financial position deteriorated quickly.
Blue Cedar invoices were demonstrably false.
Payments could be traced to obligations connected to her.
Her draft memo showed she knew approval irregularities existed while continuing to benefit from them.
The engagement ended formally.
There was no dramatic meeting.
No ring thrown across a room.
Her attorney returned the engagement ring in a padded envelope.
Rocco placed it in a safe-deposit box until property issues were resolved.
He felt almost nothing looking at it.
Then he saw Mia’s broken glasses sitting in an evidence bag on Claire’s desk.
That hurt.
The engagement ring represented a relationship between adults.
The glasses represented what those adults had been willing to do to a child to preserve their lies.
Rocco asked Claire:
“Can the glasses be returned when investigators are done?”
“Probably.”
“I want them.”
“Why?”
He looked through the conference-room window.
“I don’t know yet.”
May you like
Claire nodded.
She did not force an answer.
