Chapter 2 - THE DOCUMENT DANIEL NEVER DELIVERED
Dominic canceled the party.
Nobody argued.
Within twenty minutes, luxury cars were leaving the estate while staff quietly removed flowers, champagne glasses, and untouched trays of food.
Lenora disappeared into the east guest wing.
Dominic did not stop her.
Not yet.
He wanted information before confrontation.
Maisie changed into clean pajamas and sat at the kitchen island drinking hot chocolate.
Dominic stayed with her longer than his security team wanted.
“Daddy?”
“Yes?”
“Is Uncle Daniel lost?”
Dominic looked at her.
“I don’t know.”
“Can grown-ups get lost?”
“All the time.”
Maisie thought that was funny.
Dominic did not.
He kissed her forehead.
“Rosa is going to stay with you.”
Rosa Alvarez had been Maisie’s nanny since she was an infant and one of the few people Dominic trusted inside his home without qualification.
Maisie grabbed his sleeve.
“You’re coming back?”
“Yes.”
“Promise?”
Dominic looked at her hand.
Seven years old.
Already checking whether people stayed.
He hated that.
“I promise.”
She released him.
Dominic entered his office at five twelve.
His attorney, Samuel Price, arrived fifteen minutes later.
Samuel was sixty-three, thin, silver-haired, and immune to Dominic’s intimidation because he had known him since Dominic was nineteen and considerably less impressive.
Samuel dropped a leather folder onto the desk.
“You have a problem.”
Dominic leaned back.
“I noticed.”
Samuel opened the folder.
“This was filed yesterday.”
A petition.
Ferraro Family Estate Trust.
Request for emergency review.
Dominic read the first page.
Then the second.
His expression hardened.
The petition claimed that recent questions had arisen regarding the legal status of Dominic’s sole heir.
Maisie.
“What questions?”
Samuel pointed.
“Paternity.”
Dominic looked up.
Samuel raised both hands.
“I didn’t write it.”
Dominic continued reading.
The petition requested temporary suspension of Dominic’s authority to exercise certain estate rights on Maisie’s behalf until her status could be verified.
Applicant:
Daniel Ferraro.
Dominic stood.
“No.”
Samuel nodded.
“My reaction exactly.”
“Daniel would never file this.”
“It carries his electronic signature.”
“Forged.”
“Possibly.”
Dominic read further.
A secondary declaration claimed Dominic had privately acknowledged uncertainty surrounding Maisie’s parentage.
His signature appeared at the bottom.
Dominic stared.
“That is not my signature.”
“It looks like it.”
“It isn’t.”
Samuel sat.
“Then someone has become extremely comfortable forging the Ferraro brothers.”
Dominic walked toward the window.
Outside, workers were repairing the flower bed.
He could still see mud where Maisie had fallen.
“What does the petition do?”
“Right now? Mostly creates trouble.”
“Samuel.”
“If a judge considers it credible, certain trust transactions could be frozen.”
“The mansion?”
Samuel hesitated.
“Yes.”
Dominic turned.
“How?”
The explanation took fifteen minutes.
Dominic’s grandfather had placed the Ferraro estate inside a complex family trust decades earlier.
Occupancy rights passed through the primary family line.
Dominic currently controlled them because he was eldest surviving son.
Upon his death, they would pass to his lawful descendants.
If he had no recognized descendant, secondary rights could eventually shift to Daniel’s branch.
Lenora.
Dominic understood.
“She wants Maisie removed from succession.”
Samuel did not answer.
He did not need to.
Dominic’s phone buzzed.
Security.
Daniel’s Bentley had been located.
Abandoned in a parking garage near downtown Chicago.
No Daniel.
No blood.
No signs of violence.
Phone missing.
Dominic felt his stomach tighten.
Samuel watched him.
“What?”
“They found Daniel’s car.”
“And Daniel?”
“No.”
Samuel closed the folder.
“That is more concerning than paperwork.”
Dominic agreed.
A security officer entered.
“Sir.”
“What?”
“We reviewed party footage.”
Dominic waited.
“The courtyard camera stopped recording for eleven minutes.”
“When?”
“Four oh seven to four eighteen.”
Dominic’s jaw tightened.
Maisie had been shoved during that window.
“Failure?”
“No.”
“Manual?”
“Yes.”
“Who has access?”
The officer hesitated.
Dominic hated hesitation.
“Say it.”
“Household administration.”
Dominic immediately thought of Lenora.
But the estate administration system was used by several senior family members.
Including Daniel.
Including Dominic.
Including Lenora during extended stays.
Samuel said quietly:
“Someone wanted no recording.”
Dominic looked toward the door.
“Bring Lenora.”
The officer left.
Two minutes later, another message arrived.
Not Lenora.
A text from an unknown number.
One photograph.
Daniel sitting inside a dark room.
Alive.
Angry.
Beside him was a newspaper from that morning.
Below the image:
STOP LOOKING.
Dominic’s expression did not change.
Samuel saw the screen.
“Police?”
Dominic’s first instinct was no.
Ferraro instinct.
Handle family problems inside the family.
Then he thought of Maisie asking whether adults could get lost.
His answer had been all the time.
Maybe families stayed lost because powerful men refused outside help.
“Call them.”
Samuel raised an eyebrow.
Dominic looked at him.
“I said call them.”
Before Samuel could move, the office doors opened.
Lenora walked in.
She had changed clothes.
Black dress now.
Perfect makeup.
No visible mud.
She looked at the photograph on Dominic’s phone.
Her face changed.
“That isn’t possible.”
Dominic studied her.
“Why?”
Lenora stopped.
He took one slow step forward.
“Why, Lenora?”
She looked at Daniel’s photograph again.
May you like
Then whispered something Dominic had not expected.
“Because he was supposed to be on a plane.”
