The Last Gift

PART 3 — THE WOMAN HE LOST

Three weeks later, Seattle welcomed me with cold rain and beautiful mornings.

I rented a waterfront apartment, bought a secondhand car, and started working with a small investment company.

Daniel, my attorney, had arranged everything before I left Chicago.

What Vincent never knew was that I had inherited a substantial fortune from my late father.

I had kept it separate from our marriage.

My father had always warned me:

“Never give someone the power to destroy your life simply because you love them.”

I finally understood what he meant.

One morning, while I was reviewing documents at a café, my phone rang.

Daniel.

“Claire, the divorce papers have been delivered to Vincent.”

“Good.”

“He hasn’t signed them yet.”

I sighed.

“That sounds like Vincent.”

“There’s more. The DNA report has caused quite a scandal. Adrian has confirmed the affair. Sophia’s child is biologically his.”

I stirred my coffee.

“And Vincent?”

“He’s furious. Eleanor has apparently demanded that Adrian marry Sophia to protect the family’s reputation.”

I almost smiled.

The Moretti family was finally dealing with its own problems.

Then Daniel lowered his voice.

“Vincent has been asking about your inheritance. He also wants to know why you left without taking anything from the marital estate.”

“Tell him I only took what belonged to me.”

“Claire, he wants to meet you.”

I looked through the café window at the rain falling over the water.

“Daniel, I spent five years waiting for that man to make time for me. He couldn’t even leave another woman’s hospital room to answer my calls.”

I paused.

“Now he can wait.”

That afternoon, I received an unexpected visitor.

A tall man in a charcoal suit stood outside my apartment building.

I recognized him immediately.

Vincent.

He looked exhausted. His expensive suit was wrinkled, and dark circles surrounded his eyes.

Two security men stood behind him.

When I opened the door, he stared at me for several seconds.

“Claire.”

“Vincent.”

“Can we talk?”

“We have lawyers for that.”

His jaw tightened.

“Please. Just five minutes.”

I stepped outside and closed the door behind me.

He looked at my simple clothes, then at the elegant apartment behind me.

“You seem different.”

“I am.”

“I made a mistake.”

I almost laughed.

“Which one? Buying Sophia a mansion? Giving her my place in your life? Or ordering twenty armed guards to keep your legal wife away from the birth of another man’s child?”

His expression changed.

“I didn’t know the baby wasn’t mine.”

“But you knew I was your wife.”

He lowered his eyes.

“I know.”

For a moment, neither of us spoke.

Then he reached into his coat and took out my wedding ring.

“I found this on my desk. I brought it back.”

I looked at the ring but didn’t reach for it.

“Keep it.”

“Claire, I want you home.”

I shook my head.

“Your home is in Chicago, Vincent. Mine is here.”

He stepped closer.

“Five years can’t just disappear.”

“No. They don’t disappear. They become lessons.”

His face tightened.

“Do you still love me?”

I looked directly into his eyes.

“That’s no longer important.”

Before he could answer, my phone rang.

I glanced at the screen.

It was Daniel.

I answered.

“Claire, congratulations. The acquisition has been finalized. You’re officially the majority owner of Northstar Holdings.”

Vincent went completely still.

Northstar Holdings was a major investment group with interests in shipping, real estate, and private banking.

And it had recently become one of the largest competitors of Moretti Enterprises.

I ended the call.

Vincent stared at me.

“You’re the owner?”

“One of them.”

“How long have you been involved with Northstar?”

“Long enough.”

He looked genuinely stunned.

Then his phone vibrated.

His security chief was calling.

“Boss, we have a problem. Northstar just acquired the controlling shares of two companies in our shipping network.”

Vincent slowly raised his eyes toward me.

For the first time, he understood that I hadn’t simply walked away from his empire.

I had stepped into a world where his name meant nothing to me.

I gave him a polite smile.

“Goodbye, Vincent.”

And I closed the door.

But as he stood outside my apartment, his phone received one final message.

It was from his mother.

Eleanor Moretti: Vincent, you need to come home. Adrian has disappeared, Sophia is threatening to expose the family, and someone has sent me a photograph of your father with Claire’s mother.

Vincent stared at the message.

Because suddenly, he realized the DNA report might not have been the only secret hidden inside my final gift.

To be continued…