Chapter 9 - THE WOMAN WHO OWNED EVERYTHING
By sunset, every business newspaper in Chicago wanted to know who Adeline Croft was.
Nobody officially knew the answer.
Not yet.
But rumors moved faster than court filings.
A maid.
A secret heir.
A failed engagement.
An alleged poisoning plot.
Three dead relatives.
A missing notary.
A billionaire empire with uncertain ownership.
Television vans surrounded the Marchetti estate.
Adeline stood at a kitchen window watching reporters gather beyond the gates.
Lucy entered holding two sandwiches.
“You haven’t eaten.”
“I’m not hungry.”
“You say that every time you’re terrified.”
“I’m not terrified.”
Lucy held out a sandwich.
“You’re staring at cable news through a curtain.”
Adeline took it.
“Fine.”
Lucy leaned against the counter.
“Apparently you’re worth several billion dollars.”
“Apparently.”
“Can I borrow twenty dollars?”
Adeline laughed.
For the first time in almost twenty-four hours, the sound felt real.
Lucy smiled.
“Better.”
Then Adeline’s expression softened.
“How are you?”
“My therapist is going to buy a vacation home after this.”
“Lucy.”
“I’m alive.”
“That’s not what I asked.”
Lucy looked down.
“I don’t know.”
Adeline hugged her.
Neither spoke.
Then Lucy whispered, “Mom really was his mother?”
Adeline knew who she meant.
Enzo.
“Yes.”
“That makes him…”
“My half-brother?”
“No.”
Adeline tried to calculate.
“Mom was my adoptive mother but his biological mother.”
Lucy frowned.
“So you two aren’t blood siblings.”
“No.”
“But emotionally this is still weird.”
“Very.”
“Good.”
Adeline pulled back.
“Why good?”
“Because I couldn’t figure out the family tree.”
Adeline laughed again.
Enzo appeared in the doorway.
Lucy took one look at him.
“You need a sandwich.”
“I’m fine.”
Lucy handed him hers.
“You people are exhausting.”
She left.
Enzo stared at the sandwich.
“Is she always like that?”
“Yes.”
“I like her.”
“She called you the scary rich guy while tied to a bomb.”
“I respect accuracy.”
Adeline smiled faintly.
Then she noticed his face.
“You haven’t slept.”
“Neither have you.”
“Stop stealing my arguments.”
He leaned against the counter.
“Dante finished reviewing the marriage contracts.”
Adeline’s smile faded.
“And?”
“Beatrice was right.”
Adeline closed her eyes.
“If Ruth was my biological mother, Thomas’s inherited shares cannot legally pass to me because of a legitimacy provision my grandfather wrote sixty years ago.”
“That sounds medieval.”
“It is.”
“So you lose everything?”
“No.”
Enzo looked toward the window.
“I keep what I built independently.”
“How much?”
“Enough.”
“That is the most billionaire answer imaginable.”
“I’m trying to improve.”
She became serious.
“And the shares?”
“They pass to you.”
“I don’t want them.”
“I know.”
“Can I refuse?”
“Eventually.”
“Eventually?”
“Courts have to establish lineage first.”
“DNA.”
“Yes.”
They had already provided samples.
Results would take time.
Adeline took another bite of her sandwich.
“So for now?”
“For now, Dante is requesting a temporary court order preventing any transfer of assets.”
“And Beatrice?”
“In custody.”
“Camilla?”
“Cooperating.”
“Harrison?”
Enzo’s face hardened.
“Arrested.”
“For Lorenzo?”
“Conspiracy, kidnapping, fraud. Prosecutors are reopening Lorenzo’s death.”
“And Ruth’s.”
“Yes.”
Adeline looked down.
“Good.”
Enzo stared at her.
“What?”
“You don’t sound relieved.”
“I’m not.”
“Why?”
“Because prison doesn’t give me my mother back.”
Enzo said nothing.
Adeline looked at him.
“Or yours.”
His jaw tightened.
For years, Enzo had imagined Sophia as his mother.
He didn’t want to lose that.
Adeline understood.
“You can still love her.”
He looked at her.
“Sophia.”
“She raised you.”
“Yes.”
“That matters.”
“She lied.”
“Maybe.”
“Definitely.”
“You don’t know why.”
“Neither do you.”
Adeline nodded.
“True.”
Enzo looked toward the kitchen door.
“Ruth worked here sometimes.”
“What?”
“My father hired her through one of the family charities.”
Adeline stared.
“You remember her?”
“Barely.”
His voice softened.
“A woman who smelled like cinnamon soap.”
Adeline’s eyes filled.
“She did.”
Enzo looked at her.
“She always used cinnamon soap.”
He closed his eyes.
“I remember.”
Adeline didn’t move.
“I remember her giving me a book once.”
“What book?”
“The Little Prince.”
Adeline laughed through tears.
“That was her favorite.”
Enzo looked toward the floor.
“All these years.”
Adeline touched his arm.
He did not pull away.
“She knew you.”
“Apparently.”
“She watched you grow up.”
“And said nothing.”
“She was hiding me from Beatrice.”
“I know.”
“Maybe she was afraid telling you would put you in danger too.”
Enzo nodded.
He wanted that to be true.
A knock sounded.
Dante entered.
“Sorry to ruin the family therapy.”
“What?” Enzo asked.
“We have a court hearing tomorrow morning.”
“That fast?”
“Emergency corporate control tends to impress judges.”
Adeline stared.
“I have to go?”
“Yes.”
“No.”
“Yes.”
“I don’t own a suit.”
Enzo looked at her.
“You own several companies but not a suit.”
“Apparently.”
Dante sighed.
“Lucy will enjoy this.”
She did.
By nine the next morning, Adeline wore a navy dress she would never have chosen herself.
Lucy had rejected six others.
“Too funeral.”
“Too wedding.”
“Too evil stepmother.”
When Adeline finally emerged, Enzo waited beside the car.
He looked at her.
Then forgot to speak.
Adeline raised an eyebrow.
“What?”
“Nothing.”
“That was definitely something.”
“You look…”
She waited.
Enzo adjusted his tie.
“Prepared.”
Lucy, behind Adeline, made a gagging noise.
“Smooth.”
Enzo glared.
Adeline smiled.
At the courthouse, cameras exploded with flashes.
Reporters shouted.
“Ms. Croft, are you the true Marchetti heir?”
“Did Beatrice Marchetti attempt to kill Enzo?”
“Were you abused by Camilla Ashford?”
“Do you plan to take control of Marchetti Holdings?”
Adeline stopped.
Enzo touched her elbow.
“Keep moving.”
Instead, she turned toward the cameras.
Dante whispered, “Adeline.”
She ignored him.
“I don’t know what I own.”
The reporters went silent.
“I don’t know what a court will decide.”
More cameras lifted.
“But I know something about what happened two nights ago.”
Enzo watched her.
“A woman hit me in front of almost two hundred people because she believed my paycheck made me less important than her reputation.”
The courthouse steps went silent.
“And nearly everyone watched.”
Several reporters lowered their microphones.
Adeline continued.
“I’m not saying that because I want sympathy.”
She looked directly at the cameras.
“I’m saying it because if I had turned out to be exactly what everyone thought—a maid with no wealthy relatives and no inheritance—what happened to me still would have been wrong.”
Enzo’s eyes softened.
“I should not have needed to become important for people to decide I deserved protection.”
Silence.
Then she turned and walked inside.
Dante stared at her.
“What?”
She asked.
“That was either legally reckless or brilliant.”
“Which?”
“I’ll bill you later.”
The hearing lasted two hours.
Dante presented the succession charter.
The guardianship declaration.
Lorenzo’s recording.
The original birth certificate.
The judge ordered immediate DNA testing verification, froze disputed shares, and placed temporary voting authority under independent supervision.
Then opposing counsel stood.
Beatrice had hired attorneys.
Of course.
Her lawyer argued that Ruth Croft had kidnapped Adeline.
That the guardianship was signed under duress.
That documents might be forged.
Dante destroyed each argument carefully.
Then came the surprise.
The attorney called a witness.
Camilla Ashford.
She entered wearing a simple gray dress.
No jewelry.
No makeup.
She avoided looking at Enzo.
Then she saw Adeline.
Her eyes dropped.
Under oath, Camilla admitted everything.
The altered trust.
Beatrice’s promises.
The champagne.
The abuse.
“I hit Ms. Croft because I was angry,” she said.
“Did she threaten you?”
“No.”
“Strike you?”
“No.”
“Insult you?”
“No.”
“Then why?”
Camilla’s voice broke.
“Because I thought I could.”
Adeline stared.
It was the first completely honest thing she had heard Camilla say.
The prosecutor later met them outside.
Camilla had agreed to cooperate in exchange for consideration on assault and conspiracy-related charges.
As they walked toward the exit, Camilla approached Adeline.
Enzo stepped between them.
Adeline touched his sleeve.
“It’s okay.”
Camilla stopped several feet away.
“I don’t expect forgiveness.”
“Good.”
Camilla nodded.
“I was horrible to you.”
“Yes.”
“I’ve been horrible to a lot of people.”
Adeline said nothing.
Camilla looked at Enzo.
“You were right to end it.”
Enzo remained silent.
Camilla turned back to Adeline.
“I hope your arm heals.”
Adeline looked at the fading welts.
“It will.”
Camilla nodded.
Then left.
Outside, Dante’s phone buzzed.
He checked it.
His expression changed.
“What?”
Enzo asked.
“DNA results.”
Adeline’s pulse spiked.
“That was fast.”
“Court expedited.”
Dante opened the report.
He read.
Then looked at Adeline.
“Beatrice is your biological mother.”
Adeline exhaled.
No surprise.
Still painful.
Dante continued.
“Lorenzo Marchetti is almost certainly your biological father based on preserved family samples and confirmed relatives.”
Enzo looked at her.
“And Ruth?”
Dante turned to him.
“The maternal relationship test confirms Ruth Croft was your biological mother.”
Enzo went completely still.
No more possibility.
No more uncertainty.
Ruth was his mother.
Dante kept reading.
Then frowned.
“What?”
Adeline asked.
“This doesn’t make sense.”
Enzo’s eyes narrowed.
“What?”
Dante looked from Enzo to Adeline.
“The kinship analysis found something unexpected.”
Adeline’s heart began pounding again.
“What now?”
Dante swallowed.
“You and Enzo share more DNA than expected for your known family relationship.”
Silence.
Adeline stared.
“What does that mean?”
Dante looked at Enzo.
Then back at her.
“It means Lorenzo and Thomas may not have been merely brothers.”
Enzo frowned.
“They were brothers.”
Dante shook his head.
“Not genetically.”
He turned the page.
“The analysis suggests Lorenzo and Thomas Marchetti were identical twins.”
Enzo stared.
“No.”
Adeline whispered, “Why does that matter?”
Dante’s face became grim.
“Because identical twins have nearly identical DNA.”
“So?”
“It means the test can’t reliably distinguish whether Lorenzo…”
He stopped.
Adeline’s stomach dropped.
“Whether Lorenzo what?”
Dante looked at her.
“Whether Lorenzo was actually your biological father.”
Enzo understood.
If Thomas and Lorenzo were identical twins, Adeline’s paternal DNA could match either one.
Adeline whispered, “Thomas could have been my father?”
“Yes.”
Enzo stared at her.
And if Thomas was Adeline’s father…
Then every inheritance calculation changed again.
But that wasn’t the worst part.
Adeline slowly looked at Enzo.
Because Thomas was also Enzo’s father.
May you like
Which meant they might not merely share a complicated family history.
They might be half-siblings.
