Chapter 5
Garrett’s protective-order hearing took place one week after the gala.
Alessia attended with Naomi.
Garrett appeared with a swollen cheek and a polished attorney.
Photographs made him look terrible.
The video made everyone look worse.
The court watched Miriam begin to lower herself.
Garrett kicked her leg out.
The judge’s expression hardened.
Then Garrett shoved Miriam with his shoe.
Evelyn insulted her.
Alessia ordered Garrett to kneel.
Garrett laughed.
Alessia punched him.
The judge watched Garrett crash into the fountain.
Then watched him get up and charge Alessia.
The second strike—Alessia’s kick—was clearly defensive.
The first was not.
Naomi did not argue otherwise.
The judge kept the mutual no-contact order temporarily but denied Garrett’s request to control or access the Relief Foundation.
He also refused to remove Alessia from Carbone Hospitality based on a domestic dispute.
Garrett looked furious.
Afterward Naomi said:
“That went badly for him.”
Alessia shook her head.
“Not badly enough.”
“What do you mean?”
“He expected something else.”
She had watched Garrett during the video.
Not when Miriam hit the floor.
Not when Alessia struck him.
When the judge rejected the business requests.
That was when his face changed.
Naomi considered it.
“He may simply want leverage in the divorce.”
“Maybe.”
That afternoon Ellen called.
The audit had progressed.
Several services billed through Evelyn’s trust-controlled company were real.
But dramatically overpriced.
A luxury car service billed three times market rate.
Event security consulting charged for employees who never worked the events.
Planning retainers duplicated services the foundation already paid another company to perform.
The excess funds did not remain with Evelyn.
They moved again.
Into a private hospitality venture Garrett had launched secretly eighteen months earlier.
A boutique event venue outside Boston.
The venture was losing money.
Badly.
“He used foundation money to cover it?” Alessia asked.
Ellen answered carefully.
“That appears to be part of what happened.”
Garrett had been trying to build a legitimate business he could claim as his own rather than remain “Alessia Carbone’s husband.”
The venture failed.
Instead of telling Alessia, he routed money through inflated vendor contracts tied to Evelyn.
He apparently believed he could repay the foundation once the venue became profitable.
It never did.
Miriam found the first cracks.
The motive was now clear enough.
Garrett needed time.
He needed access.
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And he needed Miriam discredited.
What Alessia still did not understand was why he had invited witnesses to watch himself humiliate her.
