CHAPTER FIVE Seven False Heirs
The rain kept falling.
No one noticed anymore.
Every guest stood motionless beneath umbrellas or the mansion's stone archways, staring at the security guard as though they had misheard him.
Seven fake pregnancy cushions.
Not one.
Seven.
Even Alessandro remained silent for several seconds.
Then he spoke.
"Show me."
The contractor's white utility van sat fifty yards beyond the east gate.
Its rear doors were already open.
Inside were ordinary tools.
Electrical cables.
A folded ladder.
Boxes of light fixtures.
Nothing unusual.
Until the guard pulled away a gray tarp covering the cargo floor.
Underneath sat a large black storage trunk.
Its heavy steel lock had already been cut open.
The lid creaked upward.
Every person standing nearby instinctively leaned forward.
Inside...
Seven artificial pregnancy cushions rested side by side.
Each one looked disturbingly realistic.
Different sizes.
Different skin tones.
Different stitching.
Some were only three months along.
Others appeared nearly full term.
Every one of them had been custom made.
The silence grew heavier.
Sophia Moretti stepped closer.
She reached into the trunk without hesitation.
The oldest woman present was somehow the least afraid.
She lifted one cushion.
Turned it over.
Studied its construction.
Then she whispered,
"Impossible..."
Alessandro looked at her.
"You recognize it?"
She nodded slowly.
"I recognize the workmanship."
He waited.
Sophia traced the floral embroidery sewn along the inner lining.
"This embroidery..."
She paused.
"...was designed exclusively for the Moretti Foundation."
A ripple of disbelief spread through the crowd.
The Moretti Foundation funded hospitals.
Schools.
Women's shelters.
Every year, thousands of handcrafted blankets were donated to newborn babies through the foundation's charity program.
The floral pattern on the inside of the fake pregnancy cushions...
Matched those blankets.
Emma tugged at my sleeve.
"Mama."
I looked down.
"The flowers."
She pointed excitedly.
"I told you."
She had.
From the very beginning.
Nobody had believed her.
Vanessa suddenly laughed.
It sounded brittle.
"So what?"
Everyone looked at her.
"A sewing pattern proves nothing."
She folded her arms.
"Anyone could copy embroidery."
Alessandro remained expressionless.
"Perhaps."
He gently turned the cushion over.
Something small caught his attention.
A tiny embroidered label sewn into the seam.
He narrowed his eyes.
"There are initials."
The family lawyer stepped closer.
"MC."
Sophia inhaled sharply.
"No..."
Her voice barely carried above the rain.
"It can't be."
Alessandro looked at her.
"What do they mean?"
She hesitated.
Long enough that everyone noticed.
Finally...
"Maria Conti."
A few older guests visibly reacted.
One elderly judge whispered,
"I remember that name."
Another businessman looked stunned.
"I thought she died."
Sophia nodded.
"Most people think so."
Alessandro's eyes hardened.
"Explain."
Sophia stared at the cushion.
"Twenty-eight years ago..."
She stopped.
For the first time that evening...
The matriarch of the Moretti family looked afraid.
"Maria Conti was the finest maternity tailor in New York."
Nobody spoke.
"She handcrafted medical support garments for women after childbirth."
Sophia's fingers tightened around the fabric.
"Then one day..."
"...she disappeared."
The family lawyer interrupted quietly.
"According to public records..."
He opened his tablet.
"...Maria Conti died in a warehouse fire."
Sophia slowly shook her head.
"No body was ever identified."
Another uneasy silence.
Vanessa folded her arms tighter.
"This has nothing to do with me."
No one answered.
One of the investigators suddenly called out.
"Sir."
Everyone turned.
The detective had been examining the storage trunk.
"What is it?"
He pointed toward the bottom.
"There is another compartment."
Alessandro stepped beside him.
Unlike the secret panel in Vanessa's closet, this one wasn't hidden well.
It had simply been covered by a false floor.
The detective lifted it.
Underneath...
Lay a thick leather-bound notebook wrapped in plastic.
The cover was cracked with age.
No title.
No markings.
Only a faded gold letter.
M.
Alessandro opened the first page.
Beautiful handwritten notes filled the paper.
Measurements.
Sketches.
Fabric samples.
Designs for medical maternity supports.
Then...
The writing changed.
The neat handwriting became rushed.
Uneven.
Panicked.
Sophia quietly read the first sentence aloud.
"If someone finds this, the babies were never the real business."
Every face in the crowd changed.
Not the babies?
Then what was?
Alessandro flipped another page.
Another sentence.
"The pregnancies are only the key."
The key...
To what?
Before he could continue...
A loud engine roared somewhere beyond the estate walls.
Everyone looked toward the road.
Headlights.
Speeding.
Coming directly toward the east gate.
"Stop that vehicle!"
Security guards rushed forward.
The black SUV slammed through the outer checkpoint.
Metal barriers exploded apart.
The vehicle skidded sideways across the rain-soaked pavement before crashing into a stone fountain.
Armed guards surrounded it immediately.
Weapons drawn.
The driver's door slowly opened.
A man stumbled out.
Covered in blood.
Not his own.
He raised both hands.
"Don't shoot!"
He collapsed onto his knees.
"Please..."
His voice shook violently.
"I have to speak to Alessandro Moretti."
Two guards forced him to the ground.
Alessandro approached.
"Who are you?"
The man swallowed.
"My name is Daniel Ross."
No one recognized it.
"I worked with Michael Graves."
The murdered contractor.
"I wasn't supposed to survive."
Rain washed crimson streaks from Daniel's torn shirt.
He looked over his shoulder repeatedly.
As if expecting someone to kill him at any second.
"They're coming."
Alessandro's voice remained calm.
"Who?"
Daniel stared directly at Vanessa.
Then...
He looked away.
"No."
He whispered.
"Not her."
Every muscle in Alessandro's body stiffened.
"If not her..."
Daniel's lips trembled.
"...then the woman standing behind you."
Alessandro turned instantly.
Everyone did.
Standing quietly beneath a black umbrella...
Watching the entire scene unfold without the slightest expression...
Was Sophia Moretti.
And for the first time in decades...
May you like
The queen of the Moretti empire looked genuinely shocked.
End of Chapter Five
