Chapter 5 - Vesper’s Investigation and The Meeting with Adriano Moretti
By 8:00 AM the next morning, I was sitting in my apartment living room, resting my heavily cast leg on an ergonomic ottoman. Vesper sat across from me at the glass coffee table, her laptop open, displaying a web of bank routing numbers, IP addresses, and resort invoices.
“It’s worse than you thought, Fallon,” Vesper said, sliding the laptop toward me. “Your mother didn't just drain your business savings. She used your power of attorney documents—which you signed years ago when you were hospitalized for your appendix—to transfer funds directly from your retirement account into Sutton’s wedding vendor pool. She legally stole nearly ninety thousand dollars from you.”
My hands trembled, not from pain, but from a cold, blinding fury. For years, they treated me like their personal ATM and domestic servant, justifying it under the guise of family loyalty.
“Can we freeze their accounts?” I asked, my voice chillingly calm.
“Instantly,” Vesper replied with a predatory grin. “And that’s not all. Remember your cousin Briany? She’s an intern at a tech firm, but she’s also desperate for clout. My cybersecurity team hacked into her cloud storage within twenty minutes. We recovered the unedited, high-definition video of the exact moment Sutton shoved you down the marble staircase—complete with audio of her laughing and shouting, ‘It’s just content!’”
Before I could process the magnitude of that evidence, my cell phone buzzed.
An incoming call from an unknown, restricted Manhattan number.
I hesitated, then pressed accept and put it on speaker.
“Ms. Bennett?” a deep, velvet-smooth, yet utterly commanding voice resonated through the speaker.
“Yes? Who is this?”
“My name is Adriano Moretti.”
The name hit the room like a physical shockwave. Adriano Moretti—the ruthless billionaire shipping tycoon, the older brother of the man who had just abandoned Sutton at the altar.
“Mr. Moretti,” I said, my throat tightening. “I... I assume you’re calling regarding your brother Alden.”
“My brother is currently sitting in my private study refusing to speak to anyone,” Adriano said, his tone measured and devoid of warmth. “He spent last night watching the unedited security footage of your sister intentionally fracturing your leg at my family’s resort. He is utterly disgusted by the entire family, and frankly, so am I.”
Vesper raised her eyebrows sharply, mouthing Put it on speaker mode while rapidly typing on her phone.
“Your family’s legal team has been frantically calling my corporate office this morning, demanding that Alden return to the wedding festivities and threatening lawsuits,” Adriano continued, a cold edge creeping into his voice. “They claim you staged a fall for attention. But I don't like liars, Ms. Bennett. And I particularly despise people who prey on the vulnerable.”
“My parents have spent my entire life protecting Sutton and covering up her malicious actions,” I replied, my voice steady and unyielding. “I have the financial records proving my mother stole ninety thousand dollars from my accounts to pay for their luxury party, and my legal team just secured the unedited video footage of the push.”
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A brief, heavy silence hung on the line. Then, a low, appreciative hum came from the other end.
“Intriguing,” Adriano murmured. “Are you well enough to travel, Ms. Bennett? I happen to have a private medical transport van and a legal entourage in your neighborhood. I believe it’s time we pay a visit to the Grand Meridian ballroom where your family is currently holding a frantic press conference trying to spin the narrative.”
