Chapter 5 - Claudia's Last Move
By Tuesday morning, Charleston knew my name.
Photographs from the pier were everywhere.
MYSTERY WOMAN REVEALED AS MORETTI HEIRESS.
MAFIA-LINKED SHIPPING DYNASTY RETURNS TO CHARLESTON.
MERCER CEO DIVORCED BILLIONAIRE HEIRESS DAYS BEFORE HER RETURN.
That last headline was my favorite only because Damiano had it printed and framed.
“You're twelve,” I told him.
“I'm hilarious.”
“You're unbearable.”
“Father wants three copies.”
I stared at him.
“Of course he does.”
But the amusement ended when Marcus called.
“Serena, we have a problem.”
“What happened?”
“Claudia released documents.”
My smile disappeared.
“What documents?”
“Emails supposedly showing you manipulated Moretti Maritime into killing the Voss deal as revenge against Elias.”
Damiano stood.
I put the call on speaker.
“Are they real?”
“Some are. Some aren't.”
“Send everything.”
Minutes later, the files arrived.
I read them once.
Then again.
Damiano watched me.
“Well?”
“They made one mistake.”
“What?”
I pointed at a message supposedly sent by me six months earlier.
“I didn't have access to this email address six months ago.”
Damiano smiled slowly.
“Beautiful.”
“No.”
I picked up my phone.
“We don't fight this through newspapers.”
“What are you doing?”
“Calling Elias.”
He answered immediately.
“Serena.”
“Did Claudia send you the documents?”
“Yes.”
“Do you believe them?”
A pause.
Then:
“No.”
That surprised me.
“Why?”
“Because one email says you discussed Pier Nine with Damiano in February.”
“Yes?”
“You didn't speak to Damiano for seven years.”
I smiled despite myself.
“You remembered.”
“I remember more than you think.”
“Apparently.”
He accepted that.
“What do you need?”
“Your boardroom.”
“When?”
“One hour.”
---
Claudia arrived expecting to destroy me.
Instead, she found me sitting at the head of Mercer Group's conference table.
Elias sat to my right.
Damiano to my left.
Leonard Voss stood near the windows.
Claudia stopped.
“What's this?”
I slid the forged emails toward her.
“You tell me.”
She laughed.
“Those came from an anonymous source.”
“Your laptop,” Elias said.
Her face changed.
Marcus placed a report on the table.
“The metadata was preserved.”
Leonard turned toward his niece.
“Claudia.”
“Don't look at me like that.”
“You forged these?”
“I protected us!”
“Us?” Elias asked.
She faced him.
“You were supposed to marry me.”
The room went silent.
Elias stared at her.
“Excuse me?”
“That's what this was about!”
She pointed at me.
“She was nobody. You were miserable. Uncle Leonard said once she was gone—”
Leonard snapped, “Stop talking.”
Damiano stood.
“Actually, please continue.”
Claudia's face went white.
Elias looked at Leonard.
“You engineered my divorce?”
Leonard straightened his jacket.
“I encouraged you to make a rational decision.”
“You lied about Serena.”
“I told you what I believed.”
“You investigated her.”
Leonard said nothing.
That was enough.
Elias's voice became dangerously quiet.
“You knew she was a Moretti.”
My eyes moved to Leonard.
Now I understood.
He hadn't simply underestimated me.
He had recognized me.
Leonard slowly sat.
Elias stepped forward.
“You knew.”
Leonard looked at me.
“I suspected.”
“Why hide it?” I asked.
“Because Moretti involvement would have complicated the Mercer partnership.”
Damiano laughed without humor.
“So you convinced Mercer to divorce her.”
“I convinced him his wife was unsuitable.”
Elias looked sick.
I didn't rescue him.
He still made the decision.
But now the architecture around it was visible.
I closed the folder.
“Voss Capital is removed from the project.”
Leonard glared at me.
“You don't have that authority.”
Damiano placed a document on the table.
“Actually, she does.”
Leonard read the first page.
His face drained.
Moretti Maritime had acquired the senior debt controlling Voss Capital's harbor subsidiary that morning.
Damiano looked at me.
“Your call, Princess.”
I faced Leonard.
“You wanted to know what I brought to a room.”
I pushed the document toward him.
May you like
“Now you know.”
---
