Chapter 4
Nora Sterling’s office was situated on the fortieth floor of an unassuming granite high-rise in the Loop.
There were no flashy gold plaques or ostentatious leather couches.
The space was stark, minimalist, and smelled faintly of expensive espresso and freshly printed paper.
Nora sat behind a glass desk, her silver-streaked hair pulled back into a severe bun, her dark eyes scanning me over the rim of titanium glasses.
"You look remarkably calm for a woman whose husband is spending family money on her best friend," Nora remarked, gesturing toward the leather chair across from her.
I sat down, placing my leather bag on the floor beside my feet.
"Hysteria is a luxury I cannot afford, Ms. Sterling," I said, my voice steady.
"Vincent Moretti is not a normal man."
"If he suspects I am leaving, he will move assets overseas within forty-eight hours."
"He will bury me in litigation until I run out of money to fight back."
Nora leaned forward, folding her hands together.
"You understand his character well."
"I spent four years watching him destroy his business rivals," I replied, pulling the black USB drive from my pocket and placing it on the glass desk.
"This contains the blueprints and purchase records for an estate in Tennessee bought under an anonymous shell company."
"The primary funding came from our joint liquidity reserve at Northern Trust."
Nora raised an eyebrow.
"He used marital assets to purchase a property for his mistress?"
"Not just marital assets," I said, leaning in.
"Assets drawn from the trust my father established for me before he passed away."
Nora’s eyes narrowed into sharp, dangerous slits.
"Your father’s trust had a spendthrift provision, didn’t it?"
"Yes," I confirmed.
"Vincent managed to obtain signature authority under a power of attorney I signed two years ago when I had pneumonia."
"He told me it was a routine safeguard for corporate tax filings."
"I trusted him."
"That is not just grounds for divorce, Claire," Nora said, picking up the USB drive and plugging it into her encrypted terminal.
"That constitutes fraudulent conversion and breach of fiduciary duty."
"If we can prove he commingled trust assets with funds gifted to an illicit third party, we don't just take half."
"We can freeze his entire personal portfolio before he even knows you've retained counsel."
"There is something else," I said quietly.
Nora looked up from her monitor.
I reached into my bag, pulled out the small velvet box, and opened it.
The tiny white baby shoes sat resting against the silk lining.
Nora stared at them for a long moment, the hardness in her face softening slightly.
"You're pregnant."
"Six weeks," I said.
"Vincent does not know."
"And he cannot know until the financial freeze is finalized and the paperwork is served."
"If he knows there is an heir, he will fight for sole custody purely out of spite and family pride."
"The Moretti family does not surrender their bloodline to outsiders."
Nora nodded slowly, the tactical gears in her mind turning rapidly.
"Then we move fast and silent."
"You need an ironclad medical record established under strict legal confidentiality."
"I will arrange a private consultation with an obstetrician who handles high-profile domestic cases."
"No digital records tied to your joint insurance policy."
"No pharmacy receipts linked to your shared credit cards."
"Understood," I said.
"What is our timeline?"
"Three weeks," Nora replied, tapping her fingernails against the desk.
"It will take my forensic accounting team twenty-one days to trace every wire transfer Vincent made through that Tennessee shell company."
"We need the paper trail to lead directly to Sophia Reynolds’ personal bank accounts."
"Once we have the bank statements showing she accepted funds stolen from your father’s trust, she becomes an active co-conspirator."
"She won't just lose the house, Claire."
"She will face civil fraud charges that will permanently destroy her agency and her reputation in this city."
Hearing Sophia's name spoken in connection with fraud sent a strange, cold thrill through my chest.
For fifteen years, Sophia had been my sister in everything but blood.
When her father lost his business during the recession, my family paid her college tuition.
When she launched her public relations firm, I was the one who introduced her to Vincent’s wealthy associates.
I had opened every door she walked through.
And behind those doors, she had plotted to steal the very life I had built.
"Make sure she loses everything, Nora," I said, my voice dropping an octave.
"Every single dollar."
"Don't worry," Nora replied with a cold, professional smile.
"I don't leave bones behind when I hunt."
"Now, tell me about your schedule tomorrow."
"I am having lunch with Sophia at The Drake," I said.
"She thinks we are celebrating our birthdays."
Nora reached into her drawer and pulled out a sleek, rectangular gold pen.
She placed it on the desk between us.
"This is a high-sensitivity audio recorder with forty-eight hours of battery life."
"Keep it in your purse or clip it inside your jacket."
"Let her talk, Claire."
"Guilty people love to brag when they think they have already won."
I picked up the heavy gold pen, feeling its weight in the palm of my hand.
"She will talk," I whispered.
"She won't be able to help herself."
I left Nora’s office through the private garage in the basement, taking an Uber to a small, nondescript medical clinic in Lincoln Park.
Under the alias Claire Montgomery, I sat in an examination room while an older female doctor ran a blood panel and performed a routine ultrasound.
The monitor flickered to life in the dim room.
A tiny, pulsing dot appeared on the screen, accompanied by a rapid, rhythmic sound that filled the quiet room.
*Thump-thump. Thump-thump. Thump-thump.*
The baby's heartbeat.
Tears welled in my eyes, warm and heavy, spilling over my lashes for the first time since that terrible afternoon in Miami.
"Strong heartbeat, Claire," the doctor said with a gentle smile.
"Everything looks completely healthy."
"Thank you, Doctor," I whispered, pressing a hand against my stomach.
I was not alone anymore.
May you like
I had a reason to fight that was bigger than Vincent’s ego, bigger than Sophia’s greed, and bigger than my own broken heart.
I was going to protect this child with everything I had.
