Chapter 6 - The Man Catherine Tried to Expose|
Richard Bellini's expression changed only once.
But I saw it.
The moment Marco said he'd been inside Catherine's hospital room, Richard looked toward the nearest exit.
Not toward his daughter.
Not toward Luca.
Toward the door.
Luca noticed too.
“Where are you going, Richard?”
The older man straightened.
“I have nothing to say without legal representation.”
Luca nodded.
“Then call your attorney.”
Richard seemed surprised.
“You're not going to stop me?”
“I'm not interested in making the same mistake you did.”
Luca's expression hardened.
“I don't need to threaten anyone to find the truth.”
Richard picked up his phone.
Marco stepped aside.
The room remained painfully quiet.
Eventually, the police arrived and began speaking with the people involved.
The remaining guests were allowed to leave after providing contact information.
Dinner plates sat untouched.
Candles burned low.
And the evening that had begun as an engagement celebration ended with investigators carrying evidence bags through the Moretti mansion.
I helped Teresa upstairs.
She was exhausted.
Her hands trembled against mine as we approached her bedroom.
“Hannah?”
“Yes, Mrs. Moretti?”
“Do you think Sofia will stay?”
I looked at her.
“She came back because she loves you.”
Tears filled the old woman's eyes.
“But I waited so long.”
I gently guided her into her chair.
“I know.”
She looked toward the navy coat folded across her lap.
Then whispered, “I kept wearing it because I thought if she came and I wasn't ready, she'd leave again.”
My chest tightened.
“Mrs. Moretti…”
She shook her head.
“Vanessa told me Sofia was ashamed of me.”
I stopped breathing.
“Why would she say that?”
Teresa's eyes filled.
“She said Sofia couldn't stand watching me get old.”
Something cold moved through me.
I had heard Vanessa say cruel things before.
I'd watched her humiliate staff.
I'd seen her dismiss Teresa's requests as confusion.
But this was different.
She had taken an elderly woman's deepest fear and used it to separate her from her own daughter.
I knelt beside Teresa.
“Your daughter wasn't ashamed of you.”
She looked at me.
“She came back.”
I smiled through tears.
“Yes.”
Teresa squeezed my hand.
“Then maybe I won't need this coat anymore.”
I helped her hang it carefully in the closet.
When I returned downstairs, Luca was standing alone beside the fireplace.
His engagement ring lay on the mantel.
Not the ring he'd given Vanessa.
His own wedding band from Catherine.
He was holding it between two fingers.
I stopped near the doorway.
“Mr. Moretti?”
He looked up.
“Emma—”
Then corrected himself.
“Hannah.”
I smiled faintly.
“Yes, sir?”
He looked exhausted.
“Thank you for helping Mom.”
“Of course.”
He glanced toward the staircase.
“Is she all right?”
“She's resting.”
He nodded.
Then looked toward the wedding band.
For several seconds, he didn't speak.
Finally, he whispered, “Catherine tried to tell me something.”
My throat tightened.
He continued.
“She called me three times the morning of the accident.”
I looked at him.
“I was in meetings.”
His voice broke.
“I sent her a message saying we'd talk that evening.”
I didn't know what to say.
He stared at the ring.
“Then she died.”
I swallowed.
“You didn't know what was happening.”
He shook his head.
“I should have listened.”
For a moment, his expression crumpled.
Then he looked toward me.
“Why did you stand up to Vanessa?”
The question caught me off guard.
I looked down.
“Your mother was frightened.”
“I know.”
“She wasn't hurting anyone.”
He nodded.
I continued.
“And I couldn't understand why someone needed to humiliate her for wearing a coat.”
Luca stared at me.
Then gave a small, sad smile.
“My mother spent her whole life making room for other people.”
His voice softened.
“She deserves someone making room for her.”
I nodded.
“Yes.”
He looked toward the staircase again.
Then asked, “Would you stay with her tomorrow?”
“Of course.”
“And Hannah?”
“Yes?”
He hesitated.
“Vanessa can't fire you.”
My throat tightened.
He continued.
“Not now. Not ever on her authority.”
I felt tears fill my eyes.
“Thank you, sir.”
He shook his head.
“No.”
His expression softened.
“Thank you.”
Then his phone rang.
Detective Ramirez.
Luca answered.
Listened.
His face changed.
“What?”
A pause.
Then he looked toward the hallway.
“The hospital records?”
Another pause.
His jaw tightened.
“Send everything to the attorney.”
He ended the call.
I looked up.
“What happened?”
Luca stared at the phone.
For several seconds, he didn't speak.
Then he whispered:
“The investigation found evidence that Catherine's visitor records were deliberately altered.”
My stomach tightened.
“And?”
May you like
He looked toward the wedding band in his hand.
“Richard Bellini's company paid the person who altered them.”
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