Chapter 3 - The Letter From a Dead Man.
Leah did not take the envelope immediately.
Her eyes stayed on Ethan's handwriting as though looking too closely might make it disappear.
She had packed away his watches, his jackets, his old coffee mug, and the ridiculous red scarf he wore every winter.
She had survived the funeral.
She had survived the pregnancy without him.
She had survived walking into the delivery room knowing the man who had wanted this child more than anyone would never see her face.
But she had not prepared herself to receive instructions from him eleven months after his death.
"Where did you get that?"
"From Ethan."
"When?"
"Two weeks before he died."
Leah finally looked at Luca.
"You knew my husband?"
"Yes."
"He never mentioned you."
A shadow crossed Luca's face.
"That was intentional."
Leah stood too quickly and winced as pain pulled through her exhausted body.
Nora moved toward her, but Leah lifted one hand.
"I'm fine."
She was not fine.
She was furious.
"My husband had a secret friend who shows up at my hospital room the same day Derek tries to take my baby?"
Luca's voice remained steady.
"Ethan and I were more than friends."
Leah's expression hardened.
"Explain that sentence very carefully."
"We built a company together when we were twenty-three."
Leah blinked.
Ethan had told her he had spent his twenties working for a logistics firm in Chicago.
"What company?"
"A small risk-consulting firm that later became part of Moretti Global."
Leah laughed once, without humor.
"My husband worked for Moretti Global?"
"He owned part of the original company."
"No."
"Yes."
"He taught economics at a community college when I met him."
"Because he walked away from the company."
Leah pressed one hand to her forehead.
The room seemed too bright.
Emma made a tiny sound against her chest, and Leah immediately lowered her voice.
"Why would he hide that?"
"Because of Derek."
That name brought the entire room back into focus.
Luca placed the envelope on the bedside table rather than forcing it into Leah's hand.
"Derek Sloan was not just Ethan's cousin."
"I know they were close when they were younger."
"They were business partners for six months."
Leah stared at him.
"Ethan never said that."
"Derek was removed after money disappeared from two accounts."
"You think he stole it?"
"Ethan proved he did."
Luca's jaw tightened.
"Derek's family paid the money back quietly, and Ethan agreed not to pursue it because Derek's mother threatened to drag everyone through years of litigation."
Leah looked toward the sealed envelope.
"Victoria Sloan."
Luca nodded.
Leah had met Victoria only four times.
Each meeting had felt like an interview Leah had not agreed to attend.
Victoria had a way of asking personal questions while smiling as though she were complimenting you.
After Ethan's funeral, she had suddenly become generous.
She had offered Leah a house.
She had offered her a driver.
She had offered to "manage the practical side" of Ethan's estate.
Leah had refused everything.
Now those offers felt different.
"What does any of that have to do with Emma?"
Luca glanced at Nora.
Nora quietly stepped outside and closed the door behind her.
Luca waited until they were alone.
"Ethan left something you don't know about."
Leah's stomach tightened.
"Money?"
"Shares."
"In what?"
"Moretti Global."
Leah stared at him.
"That's impossible."
"The shares were held in a private trust."
Luca looked at the newborn in her arms.
"The trust transfers control to you after the birth of Ethan's first child."
Leah felt the room tilt.
"How much control?"
Luca's answer came quietly.
"Enough that Derek and Victoria would do almost anything to keep you from using it."
A knock sounded at the door.
Nora stepped back inside.
Her face had lost its color.
"We have another problem."
Luca turned.
"What?"
"Someone just filed a request to move Emma to another floor."
Leah clutched her daughter tighter.
May you like
Nora swallowed.
"The request was entered under my employee ID."
