Chapter 3 - The Suitcase Behind the Bedroom Door|
I had never heard thirty-six people become so quiet.
Even the musicians near the ballroom entrance stopped playing.
Matteo stood beside the dining table with the forged contract in his hand.
Scarlett tried to laugh.
"Darling, you're being dramatic."
He turned toward her.
"Do you think this is funny?"
"Of course not."
"Then why are you smiling?"
Her expression changed.
Elliot Hayes stepped forward again.
"Matteo, signatures are sometimes handled through authorized representatives."
"My mother isn't a business transaction."
"Nobody is suggesting she is."
"Then explain why a contract says she must be removed before midnight."
Elliot looked at Luca.
Luca said nothing.
Matteo set the paper down.
"I'm calling my attorney."
Scarlett reached for his arm.
"Please don't make a scene."
He moved away from her touch.
"The scene began when you humiliated my mother in front of our guests."
Several people quietly collected their coats.
Matteo looked toward the doorway.
"Anyone who wants to leave may leave."
His voice remained steady.
"But I would appreciate anyone who witnessed what happened tonight being willing to tell the truth."
A few guests nodded.
Others avoided his eyes.
Within minutes, the celebration began dissolving into embarrassed whispers and footsteps.
I thought perhaps I should disappear too.
After all, Scarlett had fired me.
I needed my paycheck.
I needed my job.
And I had no idea what becoming involved in a Russo family dispute might cost me.
Then Evelyn reached for my hand.
"Anna, would you help me upstairs?"
"Of course."
Matteo immediately turned.
"Mom, I'll come with you."
She shook her head.
"Please finish whatever you need to do."
He hesitated.
"I don't want you alone."
"I'm not alone."
She squeezed my fingers.
"Anna's here."
Something passed across Matteo's expression.
Gratitude, perhaps.
Or guilt.
He nodded.
"Nobody touches your belongings, Mom."
Evelyn gave him a weak smile.
"I don't have many things packed."
That sentence stayed with me as we climbed the wide marble staircase.
She owned dozens of dresses, antique jewelry, books, photographs, and furniture collected over half a century.
Yet everything she believed she could take away fit inside one small brown suitcase.
When we reached her bedroom, she stopped.
The suitcase stood beside the door exactly where I had seen it that afternoon.
A folded blue cardigan rested on top.
Evelyn stared at it.
"Do you know why I packed that sweater?"
I shook my head.
"Because Matteo bought it with his first paycheck."
She smiled through her tears.
"He worked at a neighborhood grocery store one summer."
"He told me he'd become rich enough to buy me anything."
I looked at the simple cardigan.
"He must have been proud."
"He was."
She touched its sleeve.
"But I was prouder of the boy who spent his first money on his mother."
Her smile faded.
"I don't know when everything became so complicated."
I gently moved the suitcase away from the doorway.
"You don't have to go anywhere."
She watched me.
"Do you really believe that?"
"I do."
Evelyn sat on the edge of her bed.
Then she looked toward the closed door.
"Anna, there's something I haven't told Matteo."
My stomach tightened.
"What is it?"
She rubbed the worn collar of her husband's coat.
"Scarlett said if I refused to leave, she would have to let you go."
I stared at her.
"She told you that?"
Evelyn nodded.
"She said you were spending too much time with me."
A terrible understanding settled over me.
Scarlett hadn't just threatened my job at dinner.
She had been using it against Evelyn for weeks.
"Mrs. Russo, you should never have worried about that."
"But your mother needs care."
I felt tears sting my eyes.
Evelyn knew about my mother's stroke.
She knew that every dollar mattered.
And she had apparently been prepared to lose her own home to protect my income.
"Scarlett said your mother might have to go into a nursing facility if you lost your job."
I knelt in front of her.
"Please listen to me."
She lowered her eyes.
"My mother's health is my responsibility."
"You've been so kind to me."
"And you've been kind to me."
I took her hand.
"But nobody gets to use our families to make us afraid."
Before Evelyn could answer, someone knocked.
It was Rosa Delgado, the mansion's senior housekeeper.
She looked pale.
"Anna, Mr. Russo wants to see you downstairs."
"Is something wrong?"
Rosa glanced toward Evelyn.
"There's been another discovery."
I helped Evelyn settle into her favorite armchair.
Then I followed Rosa into the hallway.
Once we were beyond the bedroom door, she caught my sleeve.
"Anna, there's something you need to know about this afternoon."
"What?"
"Scarlett ordered the security cameras in the west wing turned off."
My heart began pounding.
"Why?"
"She said a maintenance crew was coming."
Rosa swallowed.
"But there wasn't any maintenance crew."
"Who came?"
"Two men carrying document boxes."
I felt cold.
Rosa looked toward the stairs.
"And when they left, they took something from Mr. Russo's private study."
"What did they take?"
She shook her head.
"I couldn't see."
Then she reached into her apron pocket.
"I did find this."
She handed me a torn shipping label.
Most of the writing was missing.
But one line remained perfectly clear.
RUSSO FAMILY TRUST — ORIGINAL RECORDS.
I stared at the words.
Someone hadn't merely forged a signature.
May you like
They had removed the documents that could prove it.
And whatever Scarlett had planned, it had begun long before tonight.
