Chapter 10 - The Price Vanessa Put on My Silence|
For a moment, I couldn't speak.
Two hundred thousand dollars sat between us in a white envelope.
It was more money than I could imagine earning in several years.
Vanessa leaned back in her chair, looking almost pleased with herself.
"You don't have to answer immediately."
I stared at her.
"You're offering me money to betray Mrs. Rosa?"
Vanessa sighed.
"Please don't make everything sound so dramatic."
"Then tell me what you're asking."
She folded her hands.
"Rosa is elderly."
Her tone became falsely sympathetic.
"She remembers things in fragments."
"She remembers being locked out of her husband's study while he was dying."
Vanessa's expression hardened.
"Be careful, Claire."
I straightened.
"About what?"
"About assuming you understand this family."
She gestured toward the mansion.
"You've spent three years serving meals and polishing silver."
"That doesn't make you a Moretti."
I thought about Rosa sitting alone in the dark with a bowl of soup.
Then I thought about her children finally coming home.
"No," I said quietly.
"It doesn't."
Vanessa smiled.
"I'm glad we understand each other."
"But it doesn't make me blind."
Her smile vanished.
I looked at the envelope.
"What exactly do you want me to do?"
Vanessa seemed relieved that I was finally discussing her proposal.
"Bring me the box and anything removed from it."
I said nothing.
"And sign a statement confirming that Rosa has been increasingly confused."
My stomach turned.
"You want me to lie."
"I want you to be practical."
She slid another document across the table.
The first paragraph claimed that Rosa had been wandering through the mansion at night, forgetting meals, and making unfounded accusations against household staff.
None of it was true.
The second paragraph stated that I had personally witnessed her decline.
I looked up.
"You prepared this before asking me?"
Vanessa shrugged.
"Efficiency is one of my strengths."
I pushed the paper away.
"I won't sign it."
She stared at me.
"Think carefully."
"I have."
She leaned forward.
"Do you have any idea what happens to household employees who lose the trust of influential families?"
I didn't answer.
"They struggle to find work."
Her voice became sharper.
"They lose references."
"Sometimes they discover that loyalty doesn't pay the rent."
I felt my face grow hot.
Vanessa was right about one thing.
I wasn't wealthy.
I lived in a rented apartment.
Most of what I earned went toward ordinary things like groceries, utility bills, and helping people I loved when they needed it.
But I knew something she didn't understand.
There were things poverty could take from a person.
And there were things a person had to refuse to sell.
"My answer is no."
Vanessa's eyes narrowed.
"You'll regret that."
I stood.
"Maybe."
I looked down at the envelope.
"But I'll be able to look Mrs. Rosa in the eye."
I walked toward the door.
Vanessa spoke again.
"Luca isn't the hero you think he is."
I stopped.
She gave a bitter laugh.
"You've seen him being kind to his mother, and suddenly you think he's a saint."
I turned around.
"I've never thought that."
"Good."
Her expression changed.
"Because Frank spent years trying to stop his son from making the same mistakes he had made."
I watched her carefully.
"Then why would Frank trust you?"
Vanessa's jaw tightened.
"He didn't."
For a second, she seemed surprised by her own honesty.
Then she recovered.
"He was suspicious of everyone."
I moved back toward the table.
"Was he suspicious because he discovered what happened to the foundation money?"
Vanessa stood abruptly.
"This conversation is over."
"Or because he discovered you forged Mrs. Rosa's signature?"
Her face turned pale.
I hadn't expected the reaction.
Vanessa gripped the edge of the table.
"You have no idea what you're talking about."
"Then explain it."
For the first time, she looked frightened rather than angry.
"Frank was going to destroy everything."
Her words came out almost involuntarily.
I stared at her.
"What?"
She shook her head.
"Forget I said that."
But I couldn't.
I stepped back.
"What was he going to destroy?"
Vanessa approached me.
"Claire, listen carefully."
Her voice was suddenly low.
"If Luca keeps looking into his father's records, he's going to uncover things that will hurt far more people than me."
I held her gaze.
"Then perhaps those people should have thought about that before stealing from a charity."
Vanessa's expression twisted.
"You self-righteous little fool."
She reached for the envelope.
Then she stopped.
A strange smile spread across her face.
"You think you're protecting Rosa."
I felt a chill.
"But when this is over, she'll be the one who wishes you'd taken the money."
She brushed past me and disappeared down the hallway.
I stood alone for several seconds.
Then I hurried to Luca's study.
He was speaking with Abigail and Gideon when I knocked.
"Mr. Moretti?"
He looked up immediately.
"Claire?"
"Vanessa offered me two hundred thousand dollars."
Every person in the room went silent.
Luca slowly stood.
"For what?"
I explained the conversation.
I told them about the blue box, the false witness statement, and the threats against my employment.
I repeated Vanessa's words as accurately as I could.
Gideon wrote everything down.
Abigail asked whether Vanessa had left any documents with me.
I shook my head.
"She took the envelope and statement when I refused."
Abigail nodded.
"Then we'll document your account while it's fresh."
Luca watched me carefully.
"She threatened you?"
"Yes."
His expression darkened.
"I'm sorry."
I looked at him.
"You didn't threaten me."
"No."
He paused.
"But I've allowed people in this house to believe they could use my name to frighten others."
For a moment, neither of us spoke.
Then he said something I hadn't expected.
"Claire, I want you to know that you can leave this job whenever you choose."
I blinked.
"What?"
"You're not trapped here."
His voice softened.
"If you stay, it should be because you want to."
I looked toward the hallway.
Somewhere upstairs, Rosa was probably folding her cardigan or trying to make tea for someone who didn't need it.
"I want to stay."
Luca nodded slowly.
"Then thank you."
That evening, I helped Rosa prepare for bed.
She sat beside the window while I folded her clothes.
"Claire?"
"Yes, Mrs. Rosa?"
"Did Vanessa speak to you?"
I paused.
"She did."
Rosa looked at me sadly.
"She offered you money, didn't she?"
I stared at her.
"How did you know?"
Rosa gave a tired little smile.
"Because she offered me money too."
I sat beside her.
"When?"
"Three weeks before she married Luca."
My heart began pounding.
"What did she want?"
Rosa reached into the drawer of her bedside table.
She removed a folded piece of paper.
"She wanted me to sign this."
I unfolded it.
It was a draft agreement transferring Rosa's authority over certain family foundation assets to a private holding company.
At the bottom was a blank signature line.
Above it, the receiving company's name appeared in bold letters.
Bellwether Consulting Group.
I looked at Rosa.
"Did you sign?"
She shook her head.
"No."
May you like
Then she said something that changed the entire meaning of Vanessa's attempt to send her away.
"She told me that if I wouldn't sign while I was living here, she would find somewhere I could no longer say no."
