Chapter 4 - The Visitor Who Was Never Supposed to Be There|
Vanessa shook her head immediately.
“I wasn't at the hospital.”
Amelia didn't respond.
She simply opened her handbag and removed a folder.
“I thought you might say that.”
Luca stared at the documents.
“What are those?”
“Records obtained through the hospital's review process. The originals are preserved with investigators.”
She placed a copy on the table.
I watched Luca read.
His expression changed.
Then he looked toward Vanessa.
“Catherine's visitor log.”
Vanessa swallowed.
“Those things can be inaccurate.”
Amelia nodded.
“Occasionally. That's why the investigators are reviewing the access-card records and security footage as well.”
Vanessa's eyes narrowed.
“What footage?”
The doctor looked at her.
“The footage you apparently believed had been deleted.”
For a moment, Vanessa looked genuinely frightened.
Then she laughed.
“This is becoming ridiculous.”
Luca didn't move.
He studied the visitor log.
There was an entry recorded at 11:42 p.m.
The visitor's name was Victoria Bell.
The same woman now standing beside him in a red gown.
His voice became painfully quiet.
“You went to see my wife.”
Vanessa said nothing.
“While she was dying.”
She looked away.
Luca stepped closer.
“Why?”
Vanessa's lips trembled.
“She asked to speak to me.”
Amelia immediately shook her head.
“That isn't what Catherine told me.”
Vanessa snapped, “You weren't there!”
The room fell silent.
She seemed to realize her mistake.
Too late.
Luca stared at her.
“You just admitted you were there.”
Vanessa covered her mouth.
For several seconds, nobody spoke.
Then Sofia stepped forward.
“Catherine found the money.”
Vanessa looked toward her.
“She was going to report everything.”
“Stop.”
Sofia's voice broke.
“She trusted you with the foundation's accounts.”
Vanessa's expression twisted.
“You don't understand what I was dealing with.”
“Then explain it.”
Vanessa looked toward Luca.
For the first time, there was no charm in her expression.
No polished smile.
Only resentment.
“Catherine had everything.”
Luca stared.
“What?”
“She had the marriage. The mansion. The perfect little family. Everyone adored her.”
My stomach tightened.
Vanessa continued.
“And I worked for years while people like her smiled and pretended they understood what sacrifice meant.”
Sofia shook her head.
“So you stole from sick families?”
Vanessa's face reddened.
“It wasn't stealing. The money was going to be repaid.”
Amelia looked toward Luca.
“That was the explanation she gave Catherine as well.”
Luca stood motionless.
Then he asked the question I knew he was afraid to hear answered.
“Did you have anything to do with the accident?”
Vanessa stopped.
Her mouth opened.
Then closed.
“I didn't cause Catherine's accident.”
It was the first statement she'd made that evening without immediately looking toward her father.
Luca studied her.
“Then why did you visit her at the hospital?”
Vanessa began trembling.
“She had documents.”
Sofia closed her eyes.
“You wanted them.”
Vanessa nodded miserably.
“Yes.”
The room went completely silent.
She continued.
“I thought she'd left copies in her handbag. I went to ask where they were.”
Luca's expression hardened.
“She was dying.”
“I didn't know she was going to die.”
Her voice cracked.
“I swear.”
Amelia stepped forward.
“The medical records will establish what happened clinically. But Catherine told me someone came into her room and demanded documents.”
Vanessa began crying.
“I was desperate.”
Luca looked at her.
“Desperate for money?”
She shook her head.
“For my father.”
Sofia's expression changed.
“Your father?”
Vanessa nodded.
“Richard had moved money between companies. He told me that if Catherine reported the transfers, everything would collapse.”
Luca stared.
“Richard Bellini.”
“Yes.”
“Your father's company handled investments for our foundation.”
Vanessa looked down.
“He was losing money.”
Silence.
Then she whispered:
“And he used the foundation to cover the losses.”
Luca closed his eyes.
I felt Teresa's hand tighten around mine.
The woman who had spent the evening humiliating Teresa for wearing a coat had been hiding a financial scheme that began before Catherine's death.
Then Amelia spoke again.
“There's something else.”
Luca turned.
“What?”
“Catherine was not simply frightened of losing the records.”
The doctor paused.
“She was frightened someone would come after Sofia.”
Sofia went pale.
“Me?”
Amelia nodded.
“Catherine said you'd agreed to collect copies from her the next morning.”
Sofia began crying.
“I was supposed to meet her.”
Luca looked at his sister.
“Bella…”
She shook her head.
“I waited at the hospital.”
Her voice broke.
“But Vanessa told me Catherine had already died.”
Amelia's expression changed.
Then she looked toward Vanessa.
“That's interesting.”
Vanessa froze.
The doctor continued.
“Because the hospital's recorded time of death was later than the time Sofia says she received that message.”
Luca stopped breathing.
May you like
And suddenly, the question wasn't only why Vanessa had visited Catherine.
It was why she had been telling people Catherine was already dead.
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