Chapter 9 - The Night the Truth Nearly Disappeared Again|
Three days later, someone tried to enter Catherine's former study.
It happened just after midnight.
I'd stayed late helping Teresa settle into bed.
Sofia was asleep in her old room.
Luca was working downstairs with his attorney.
And the mansion had finally become quiet.
I was walking past the west hallway when I noticed a light beneath Catherine's study door.
That was strange.
The room had been locked since her death.
Luca had asked staff not to disturb anything until investigators finished reviewing the contents.
I stopped.
Listened.
A drawer opened.
Then closed.
My stomach tightened.
“Hello?”
The sound stopped.
For a moment, I wondered whether I'd imagined it.
Then the door opened.
A man stepped into the hallway.
He wore a dark coat.
A baseball cap.
And a pair of thin gloves.
He froze when he saw me.
I recognized him immediately.
Daniel Price.
One of Richard Bellini's longtime security employees.
He'd attended the engagement dinner.
I'd served him champagne less than a week earlier.
“What are you doing here?” I whispered.
He looked down the hallway.
“Miss Bellini sent me.”
My heart pounded.
“She's no longer authorized to enter this house.”
He stepped closer.
“Then perhaps you should go back to bed.”
I swallowed.
“I need you to leave.”
He smiled without warmth.
“You don't get paid enough to involve yourself in this.”
The words made me think of Vanessa.
The same threat.
The same assumption that my paycheck mattered more than doing the right thing.
I took a step backward.
Then reached for my phone.
Daniel's expression changed.
“Don't.”
I didn't wait.
I called Marco.
He answered immediately.
“Hannah?”
“Someone's in Catherine's study.”
Daniel moved toward me.
I stepped aside, keeping distance between us.
“Daniel Price,” I said into the phone.
Then raised my voice.
“Security! West hallway!”
Footsteps sounded almost immediately.
Daniel looked toward the staircase.
Then toward the study.
He tried to return inside.
But Marco appeared at the end of the corridor with two officers.
“Mr. Price.”
The man stopped.
Marco's voice remained calm.
“Please keep your hands visible.”
Daniel stared at him.
Then slowly raised them.
Within minutes, police were contacted.
The study was secured.
Daniel was questioned.
And investigators discovered that he'd been searching through Catherine's desk for a small external storage device.
He claimed Richard had told him it contained private business information.
But the investigator examining the office found something else.
A hidden compartment beneath the bottom drawer.
Inside was a sealed envelope.
Addressed to Luca.
The handwriting was Catherine's.
My hands began trembling when I saw it.
I knew better than to touch the evidence.
So I stepped back while the investigator documented it.
Then Luca arrived.
He wore a black shirt, his sleeves rolled up.
The tattoos along his forearms were visible.
His expression was cold.
“What's happened?”
Marco explained.
Luca looked toward Daniel Price.
Then toward the study.
Finally, his eyes found mine.
“Hannah.”
“Yes, sir?”
“Are you hurt?”
I shook my head.
“No.”
He looked relieved.
Then his expression hardened.
“You shouldn't have had to confront him.”
“I didn't.”
I swallowed.
“I called for help.”
He nodded.
“Good.”
For several seconds, neither spoke.
Then he looked toward the envelope.
“Catherine's?”
The investigator nodded.
“Yes.”
The letter was preserved for examination before a copy was provided to the family.
By morning, Luca was sitting in the library reading it.
I brought tea.
He looked up when I entered.
“Hannah.”
“Yes?”
“Would you sit?”
I hesitated.
Then nodded.
He looked toward the letter.
“Catherine wrote this two days before the accident.”
My throat tightened.
“What does it say?”
His eyes filled.
“That she was scared.”
I looked down.
He continued.
“She said someone had been watching the house.”
His voice broke.
“And that she was afraid Lily might be used to threaten her.”
My heart stopped.
“Lily?”
He nodded.
“She wrote that she wanted to take our daughter somewhere safe until the financial records were turned over.”
For several seconds, neither spoke.
Then he whispered:
“She wasn't leaving me.”
I shook my head.
“No.”
His voice broke.
“She was trying to protect us.”
Tears slipped down my cheeks.
Luca lowered his head.
For the first time, I saw how much grief he'd carried beneath his controlled expression.
He hadn't simply lost his wife.
For three years, he'd believed she might have stopped loving him before she died.
Now he was learning that she had been trying to save their family.
Then his phone rang.
Detective Ramirez.
He answered.
Listened.
His expression changed.
“What?”
A pause.
Then he slowly stood.
“Are you certain?”
Another pause.
He closed his eyes.
When he ended the call, he looked toward me.
“The investigators found another witness.”
My heart quickened.
“From the hospital?”
He shook his head.
“From the accident.”
I stopped breathing.
May you like
Then Luca whispered:
“He says Catherine's car was being followed before the crash.”
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