Chapter 13 - THE RETURN TO THE MANOR
Evening fell over Chicago as our SUV pulled back through the iron gates of the Moretti mansion.
The estate looked peaceful, bathed in golden porch lights.
We walked through the grand double doors.
Sophie was waiting in the foyer, holding Mr. Cuddles.
When she saw my mother walking slowly beside me, her face lit up.
"Grandma Teresa is waiting in the dining room!" Sophie cried out.
We walked into the grand dining room.
The long mahogany table was set for four.
No forty guests. No scheming lawyers. No treacherous relatives.
Just Teresa sitting at the head of the table, smiling warmly.
"Welcome home, Elena," Teresa said to my mother.
My mother smiled weakly, taking a seat.
"Thank you for keeping my daughter safe, Mrs. Moretti."
"She kept all of us safe," Teresa corrected.
Luca pulled out a chair for me, then took his own seat beside his mother.
"Before we eat," Teresa announced, tapping her glass with a silver spoon.
"I want to make an official declaration."
The room fell into respectful silence.
"For too long, this house has been poisoned by greed and ambition," Teresa continued.
"We trusted the wrong people."
"We forgot what truly matters."
She looked directly at me.
"Claire Bennett. You came into this house to help your mother."
"You showed integrity when everyone else showed betrayal."
"Therefore, by the authority vested in me as matriarch of the Moretti family..."
She slid a heavy velvet box across the polished table toward me.
I opened it cautiously.
Inside lay an antique platinum key and a signed legal document.
"What is this?" I breathed.
"The deed to the east wing estate library," Teresa smiled.
"And permanent appointment as Chief Director of Moretti Family Trusts."
I looked up at Luca in sheer shock.
May you like
Luca nodded encouragingly.
"You own your future now, Claire."
