Chapter 1 - The Perfect Family
11 days earlier, Alessia Moretti woke to the sound of Lily screaming.
She sat upright before she was fully conscious.
The clock beside her bed read 2:17 a.m.
Garrett was gone.
His side of the bed was cold.
Another cry came from down the hallway.
“Mommy.”
Alessia ran barefoot from the bedroom.
Lily’s door was open.
The night-light cast a soft blue glow across the room.
Her daughter sat in the middle of the bed, breathing hard, her pale hair stuck to her forehead.
Alessia rushed to her.
“I’m here.”
Lily threw both arms around her.
For several minutes, Alessia said nothing. She simply held her daughter and felt the child’s heart pounding against her chest.
When Lily finally stopped shaking, Alessia brushed the hair from her face.
“Bad dream?”
Lily nodded.
“What happened?”
“I don’t remember.”
It was the same answer she had given for 3 weeks.
Alessia studied her.
There was a small purple mark near Lily’s wrist.
She touched it gently.
“Where did this come from?”
Lily immediately pulled her arm away.
“I bumped it.”
“On what?”
“I don’t remember.”
The answer came too quickly.
Alessia’s stomach tightened.
Before she could ask another question, footsteps sounded in the hallway.
Garrett appeared in the doorway wearing dark sweatpants and a gray T-shirt.
His expression was concerned.
“What happened?”
“Another nightmare.”
Garrett sighed.
“Again?”
Lily’s fingers tightened around Alessia’s robe.
Garrett noticed.
A tiny pause crossed his face.
Then he smiled.
“Come on, princess. You’re safe.”
Lily looked down.
Alessia felt the first faint sting of unease.
Garrett stepped into the room.
“I was downstairs. Couldn’t sleep.”
“Why?”
“Foundation numbers. The gala is turning into a nightmare.”
The Moretti Foundation anniversary gala was 11 days away.
Nearly 300 guests were expected.
Politicians.
Executives.
Donors.
Journalists.
The event would celebrate 50 years of the charitable foundation Alessia’s grandfather had created.
More importantly, it would announce the next phase of the Moretti Children’s Initiative, a program Alessia had personally spent 2 years building.
Garrett had insisted on managing the finances.
He was good at that.
He was good at everything people could see.
Alessia had met him 4 years earlier at a hospital fundraiser.
She had been 30, recently widowed, exhausted from trying to raise Lily while taking control of Moretti Hospitality after her father’s sudden death.
Garrett had been charming without appearing desperate.
Patient without appearing weak.
He had never pressured her.
He had remembered Lily’s birthday.
He had learned how she liked her pancakes.
He had sat beside her during thunderstorms.
When he asked Alessia to marry him, Lily had been the one who shouted yes first.
At least, Alessia remembered it that way.
Now Lily would barely look at him.
Garrett reached toward her.
Lily flinched.
The movement was small.
But unmistakable.
Garrett stopped.
His smile faded.
“What was that?”
Lily stared at the blanket.
Alessia answered for her.
“She’s tired.”
Garrett looked at Alessia.
Something passed between them.
Then he smiled again.
“Of course.”
He kissed Alessia’s temple.
“I’ll let you get her back to sleep.”
When he left, Lily waited until his footsteps disappeared.
Then she whispered, “Mommy?”
“Yes?”
“Can I stay with you tonight?”
Alessia’s unease grew.
“Of course.”
Lily hesitated.
“Without him?”
The room seemed to become colder.
Alessia looked at her daughter.
“Why?”
Lily’s eyes filled with tears.
She opened her mouth.
Nothing came out.
Then footsteps returned.
Garrett appeared at the doorway again.
“I forgot my phone.”
Lily instantly lay down and pulled the blanket to her chin.
Garrett crossed the room, picked up a phone from Lily’s dresser, and left.
Alessia stared after him.
His phone.
On Lily’s dresser.
At 2:17 in the morning.
She waited until he disappeared.
Then she looked at Lily.
“Why was Garrett’s phone in your room?”
Lily closed her eyes.
“I don’t know.”
Alessia did not sleep again that night.
At breakfast, Garrett behaved as though nothing had happened.
He read financial news on his tablet while the housekeeper, Rosa Alvarez, placed scrambled eggs and toast on the table.
Lily sat across from him.
She barely ate.
Garrett looked over the tablet.
“You need to finish your breakfast.”
“I’m not hungry.”
“You said that yesterday.”
Lily looked at Alessia.
Garrett lowered the tablet.
“Children need structure, Alessia.”
Alessia’s fork stopped.
“She said she isn’t hungry.”
“That’s not the point.”
“What is the point?”
Garrett leaned back.
“You’ve been letting her control everything lately.”
Lily went still.
Alessia stared at him.
“She’s 6.”
“Exactly. This is when she learns boundaries.”
Rosa turned away quickly.
Alessia noticed.
“Rosa?”
The housekeeper stopped.
“Yes, Mrs. Moretti?”
Garrett’s eyes shifted toward her.
Alessia almost asked the question.
Almost.
Instead she said, “Could you pack Lily’s lunch?”
Rosa nodded.
“Of course.”
But as she left the dining room, she glanced back at Lily.
And Alessia saw fear on her face.
That afternoon, Alessia went to Moretti Hospitality’s headquarters in Manhattan.
She had spent most of the previous year focused on the foundation, leaving daily corporate operations increasingly in Garrett’s hands.
It had seemed practical.
Garrett enjoyed control.
Alessia enjoyed building things.
The arrangement had worked.
Or she had believed it had.
At 4:40 p.m., her longtime attorney, Jonathan Pierce, entered her office without an appointment.
Jonathan was 62, silver-haired, precise, and one of the few people who had known Alessia since childhood.
He closed the door.
“You have a problem.”
Alessia looked up.
“What kind?”
He placed a folder on her desk.
“The kind that becomes a crime if I’m right.”
Alessia stared at him.
Jonathan opened the folder.
Inside were copies of 3 wire transfers.
Each had been authorized from a Moretti Foundation reserve account.
Total amount: 2.8 million dollars.
Recipient: Hale Strategic Holdings.
Garrett’s private company.
Alessia felt the blood drain from her face.
“When?”
“Over 7 months.”
“I never approved these.”
“I know.”
She looked closer.
Each transfer carried her electronic signature.
Jonathan watched her.
“Someone wants the bank to believe you did.”
Alessia thought of Garrett’s phone sitting inside Lily’s room at 2:17 a.m.
Then she remembered Lily flinching.
For the first time, the 2 things did not feel separate.
“Who else knows?”
“Me. And now you.”
“Garrett?”
Jonathan’s expression hardened.
“According to the bank, Garrett submitted the authorization documents personally.”
Alessia looked toward the windows.
Far below, Manhattan moved normally.
Cars.
People.
Lights.
Everything looked exactly as it had an hour earlier.
But Alessia knew her life had just divided into before and after.
Jonathan reached for the folder.
She stopped him.
“No.”
He looked at her.
“Leave it.”
“Alessia, if Garrett is stealing from the foundation, you need to move carefully.”
“I know.”
“No confrontation until we know what he has access to.”
She nodded.
Jonathan hesitated.
“There’s something else.”
He removed one final document.
It was a copy of a trust amendment.
Alessia recognized the name instantly.
The Lily Moretti Family Trust.
Her daughter’s inheritance.
At the bottom of the document was Alessia’s signature.
She had never seen the document before.
Jonathan pointed to one paragraph.
“If this amendment becomes effective, Garrett receives temporary discretionary authority over Lily’s trust if you are declared medically or psychologically incapable of acting as trustee.”
Alessia looked up slowly.
“Who declares me incapable?”
Jonathan did not answer immediately.
Then he pointed to another name.
Dr. Stephen Vale.
Garrett’s personal physician.
A man Alessia had never met.
She felt suddenly unable to breathe.
“Jonathan.”
“Yes?”
“Someone put Garrett’s phone in Lily’s bedroom last night.”
Jonathan’s expression changed.
“Why?”
May you like
“I don’t know.”
And for the first time, Alessia was afraid the answer might be worse than the theft.
