Chapter 5 - THE LIE THAT ALMOST DESTROYED HER|
"YOUR FATHER WAS DANIEL MORETTI."
The words remained suspended in the library long after Richard Bellini stopped speaking.
Clara felt as though the floor had disappeared beneath her.
She looked at Luca.
Then at Eleanor.
Then at the photograph lying on the desk.
"That can't be true."
Her voice sounded distant.
Richard lowered his eyes.
"I'm sorry."
"No."
Clara shook her head.
"Don't apologize for something you haven't proved."
Luca turned toward Richard.
"Daniel was Sofia's uncle."
"I know."
"Then you're accusing my uncle of fathering a child with his own niece."
Richard said nothing.
Luca slammed the photograph against the desk.
"Look at me."
Richard slowly raised his head.
"Did you witness anything that proves what you're saying?"
"No."
"Did Sofia tell you Daniel was the father?"
Richard hesitated.
"No."
"Then what exactly are you basing this on?"
Richard looked toward the door.
"A statement your father made."
Luca stared at him.
"And you accepted it?"
"Your father was very convincing."
Luca laughed bitterly.
"My father spent his life convincing people that whatever served him was the truth."
He turned to Detective Mercer.
"I want every document Richard has concerning Sofia."
Mercer nodded.
"We'll pursue those records."
Then Luca looked at Clara.
"You don't have to believe a word of this."
Clara pressed a trembling hand against her necklace.
"But what if it's true?"
"We'll establish the facts."
Her eyes filled with tears.
"I thought finding my real family would give me answers."
Luca's expression softened.
"I know."
"Instead, every answer makes my life worse."
He couldn't deny it.
Across the room, Eleanor struck the armrest of her wheelchair.
"No!"
Everyone turned.
The old woman pointed toward Richard.
"Wrong."
Richard looked uncomfortable.
"Eleanor, please."
She repeated herself.
"Wrong!"
Clara moved toward her.
"Mrs. Moretti, do you know something?"
Eleanor reached for the photograph.
Her fingers trembled as she turned it over.
There was a faded blue stamp on the back.
ST. AGNES MATERNITY HOME.
Below it was a handwritten notation.
D. MORETTI — AUTHORIZED VISITOR.
Eleanor tapped the word visitor repeatedly.
Luca leaned closer.
"He was authorized to visit Sofia?"
Eleanor nodded.
"Not... father."
Clara's breath caught.
Luca looked toward Richard.
"You saw Daniel's name on a hospital record and decided he was the baby's father?"
Richard's jaw tightened.
"That's what your father told me afterward."
"Then he lied."
Richard remained silent.
Eleanor reached for Clara's hand.
"Daniel... helped."
Clara leaned toward her.
"He helped my mother?"
Eleanor nodded.
A tear slipped down her cheek.
"Good... man."
Luca stared at the photograph.
His uncle Daniel had disappeared from the family shortly after Sofia's supposed death.
Their father had claimed Daniel stole money and fled to South America.
Luca had believed that story, too.
Now he was beginning to question almost everything he'd been told.
Detective Mercer examined the notation.
"This suggests Daniel had permission to visit, but it doesn't establish paternity."
Richard exhaled sharply.
"Then perhaps your mother can explain why he vanished."
Luca turned.
"Or perhaps you can explain why my father wanted him gone."
Before Richard answered, Marco entered.
"Boss, the car is ready."
Luca looked toward Clara.
"We need to get to Ben."
Clara nodded immediately.
Detective Mercer approached her.
"Miss Bennett, I'll need a formal statement about what happened this morning, including the flowers and your interaction with Miss Bellini."
"Can it wait until my brother is admitted?"
"Yes."
Mercer's expression softened.
"Your brother comes first."
Vanessa suddenly stood.
"Luca, what about me?"
He looked at her.
"What about you?"
"Are you really leaving me here?"
"You're free to speak to your attorney."
"After everything we've been through?"
Luca stared at her.
"After everything we've been through, you still haven't asked whether my mother is okay."
Vanessa opened her mouth.
Nothing came out.
Luca turned away.
Clara followed him through the hallway.
For the first time, nobody ordered her to return to the kitchen.
Nobody told her to clean up someone else's mess.
Nobody reminded her that she was only the maid.
Yet she would have given anything to return to the simple life she'd known the previous morning.
At the hospital, Benjamin Bennett was sitting upright in bed when Clara entered.
His dark curls were sticking up in every direction.
A heart monitor beeped beside him.
He smiled weakly.
"Well, look who finally remembered she has a favorite brother."
Clara rushed to him.
"You're my only brother."
"That makes the competition easier."
She hugged him carefully.
He laughed, then winced.
"Easy, Clara."
She pulled away.
"Sorry."
Ben noticed her wrist immediately.
"What happened?"
"Nothing."
He raised an eyebrow.
"That's the worst lie you've told since you claimed you liked Mom's meatloaf."
Clara almost laughed.
Almost.
Then her eyes filled.
Ben stopped smiling.
"Hey."
She looked away.
"What's going on?"
Clara sat beside him.
For a long moment, she couldn't speak.
Then she told him everything.
The flowers.
The bracelet.
The photograph.
The canceled wedding.
The possibility that Sofia Moretti was her biological mother.
Ben listened without interrupting.
When she finished, he stared at her.
"So you're telling me your boss might be your uncle?"
Clara nodded.
"And Grandma Moretti might be your grandmother?"
Another nod.
"And his fiancée tried to steal an inheritance?"
"Possibly."
Ben leaned back.
"Wow."
Clara wiped her cheeks.
"That's all you have to say?"
He considered it.
"Well, I guess this explains why you always had better hair than me."
Clara burst into laughter despite herself.
Then she began crying again.
Ben reached for her hand.
"Hey."
She lowered her head.
"I'm scared."
His expression became serious.
"About me?"
"About everything."
Ben gently squeezed her fingers.
"You know what Mom used to say?"
Clara nodded.
But he said it anyway.
"Blood tells you where you started, but love tells you where you belong."
Clara covered her mouth.
Margaret Bennett had said those words whenever someone asked why her two adopted children looked nothing alike.
Ben smiled.
"Whatever happens, you're still my sister."
She hugged him again.
"I love you."
"Obviously."
He grinned.
"I'm extremely lovable."
A quiet knock interrupted them.
Luca stood in the doorway.
His black jacket was gone, revealing the dark tattoos covering his forearms.
He carried two paper cups of coffee.
"I brought these."
Ben looked at him.
"You're the billionaire uncle?"
Luca blinked.
Clara groaned.
"Ben."
"What?"
Ben smiled.
"I've never met a billionaire uncle before."
Luca actually laughed.
It was a low, surprised sound.
"Neither have I."
He placed the coffee on the table.
"The hospital administrator confirmed that the financial arrangements are being handled, and your doctors are reviewing the treatment plan."
Ben's smile faded.
"Clara, you didn't have to—"
"I didn't."
She looked toward Luca.
"He helped."
Ben studied the older man.
Then his expression became serious.
"My sister works herself sick taking care of me."
Luca nodded.
"I understand."
"She skips meals."
Clara sighed.
"Ben."
"And she pretends she's fine when she's not."
Luca glanced toward her swollen wrist.
"I've noticed."
Ben's voice became firmer.
"If she really is your niece, don't let people make her feel like she owes them for being alive."
The room fell silent.
Luca looked at him for a long moment.
Then he nodded.
"I won't."
Clara felt tears rise again.
A nurse entered to prepare Ben for additional testing.
Luca stepped into the corridor with Clara.
She stood beside the vending machines, holding the coffee he had brought.
"Thank you," she whispered.
"For what?"
"Helping Ben."
Luca looked toward the hospital room.
"I wish someone had helped Sofia when she needed it."
Clara studied him.
"You really loved her, didn't you?"
He nodded.
"She was my little sister."
His voice became rough.
"When we were kids, she used to hide behind me whenever our father got angry."
Clara waited.
"One night, he caught her sneaking out to take food to a shelter."
Luca gave a sad smile.
"She was sixteen and terrified of him."
"What happened?"
"I told him the food was for me."
Clara smiled faintly.
"He believed you?"
"Not for a second."
"What did he do?"
Luca looked away.
"Enough to make me promise I'd always protect her."
He swallowed.
"And then, when it mattered most, I didn't."
Clara gently touched his arm.
"You were young."
"I was eighteen when she got pregnant."
"You couldn't have known everything."
He looked at her.
"No."
Then he said something quietly.
"But I should have asked more questions."
His phone vibrated.
A message from Detective Mercer appeared on the screen.
Luca read it twice.
His expression changed.
Clara noticed immediately.
"What is it?"
He showed her the message.
Preliminary document review reveals a discrepancy in Sofia Moretti's death certificate.
Beneath it was another line.
The physician whose signature appears on the certificate died six months before the alleged accident.
Clara stared at the screen.
"That's impossible."
Luca's jaw tightened.
"Not if somebody forged it."
Then another message arrived.
This one contained an old photograph.
A woman stood outside a church in Pennsylvania.
Her hair was shorter.
Her face was thinner.
But Clara recognized her immediately.
She was older than in the hospital picture.
She was alive.
And she had the same eyes as Clara.
The message beneath the photograph read:
POSSIBLE SIGHTING OF SOFIA MORETTI — THREE WEEKS AGO.
Clara couldn't breathe.
Luca reached for her.
"Clara?"
She pointed at the screen.
"That's her."
May you like
Her voice broke.
"That's my mother."
