Chapter 6 - THE LETTER SHE LEFT BEHIND|
My hands shook so badly that I could hardly unfold Isabella's letter.
Luca stood beside me in the police evidence room, watching as though the paper might disappear if he blinked.
Detective Shaw had allowed us to read a documented copy while the original remained protected.
I took a breath and began.
Dear Claire, I know you think you're only a housemaid.
But you have shown my son more kindness than some people who share his blood.
I covered my mouth.
Luca lowered his eyes.
You have seen Oliver on his difficult days.
You know how he cries when the thunder comes and how he hides his vegetables beneath his napkin.
You know he needs the hallway light left on and that he pretends not to be afraid of the dark.
I laughed through my tears.
Even now, those little details were true.
If anything happens to me, please don't let anyone convince him that being sensitive makes him weak.
And please don't let Luca forget that his son needs him more than his empire does.
The room became painfully quiet.
Luca moved away from the table.
He stopped beside the window, his shoulders trembling.
I continued reading.
I've discovered that Matteo has been moving money through accounts Luca never authorized.
Daniel Mercer helped me identify the transactions.
At first, I believed Matteo was stealing to pay personal debts.
Now I believe the money is financing something far more dangerous.
I turned the page.
Vivienne March is involved.
She has been meeting Matteo secretly for months.
I confronted her yesterday, and she threatened to take everything from me.
Luca turned around.
“March?”
Detective Shaw looked up.
“Vivienne's maiden name?”
He nodded.
“She told me she had never met Isabella.”
I continued.
I intend to give the evidence to an attorney who has agreed to help me contact federal investigators.
If I cannot reach him, the records in this box should help explain what happened.
Do not trust anyone who asks you to destroy them.
Then came the paragraph that changed everything.
Daniel warned me that someone had arranged for my car to be tampered with.
I have stopped driving it, but I don't know how many people Matteo has paid.
If Luca hears that I died in an accident, please make him question it.
Luca suddenly gripped the back of a chair.
“She knew.”
His voice sounded hollow.
“She knew someone wanted her dead.”
Detective Shaw spoke gently.
“She took steps to protect herself.”
“But she still died,” Luca whispered.
I looked down at the remaining lines.
Claire, I haven't told Luca because I know what he'll do if he discovers his brother betrayed him.
He'll try to settle everything himself, and I cannot bear the thought of Oliver losing both parents.
Please encourage him to choose our son over revenge.
I stopped reading.
There was one final paragraph.
If you're wondering why I trusted you, the answer is simple.
You are the only person who has ever protected Oliver without expecting anything in return.
Tears blurred the words.
I remembered Isabella bringing me soup when I had the flu.
I remembered her insisting I take Christmas morning off.
I remembered the afternoon she discovered I had been sending half my salary to my younger sister during college.
She hadn't offered charity.
She had quietly increased my wages and told me good people deserved to be valued.
To me, she had never been only an employer.
She had been the closest thing to an older sister I had ever known.
Luca returned to the table.
“Claire, I'm sorry.”
I looked at him.
“For what?”
“For letting my house become a place where you were afraid to tell the truth.”
He swallowed.
“And for letting Isabella's kindness die with her.”
I shook my head.
“It didn't die.”
I thought of Oliver asleep with his teddy bear.
“It's still here.”
Detective Shaw interrupted gently.
“We need to examine the other evidence.”
She opened the blue notebook to a page marked with a folded corner.
Several companies were listed beside large financial transfers.
One name appeared repeatedly.
SABLE HOLDINGS LLC.
Another name was written beneath it.
ARTHUR VOSS.
Luca frowned.
“I've never heard of him.”
Shaw entered the name into her laptop.
After several minutes, she looked up.
“Arthur Voss worked at a private automotive garage that serviced several Moretti family vehicles.”
My stomach tightened.
“Was he the mechanic?”
“He may have been.”
She turned the screen toward us.
A photograph showed a middle-aged man with gray hair and a distinctive scar across his eyebrow.
I recognized him immediately.
“Oh, my God.”
Luca looked at me.
“What?”
“That man came to the mansion the morning Isabella died.”
I remembered him standing beside a dark gray SUV, speaking to Matteo.
I remembered the way he stared at me when I walked outside with a basket of laundry.
And I remembered something else.
“He gave Matteo a small black envelope.”
Detective Shaw leaned forward.
“Are you certain?”
“Yes.”
“What happened to the envelope?”
“Matteo put it in his coat.”
Luca closed his eyes.
But before anyone could ask another question, Gabriel entered the room.
He looked pale.
“Mr. Moretti, someone just contacted our office.”
“Who?”
“A man who says his name is Daniel Mercer.”
Luca moved toward him.
“Where is he?”
Gabriel hesitated.
“He says he can prove who ordered Isabella's murder.”
“Then bring him here.”
Gabriel shook his head.
“He refuses to come anywhere near a Moretti property.”
May you like
He swallowed.
“And he says if you want the truth, you need to ask your head of security why he helped Matteo hide it.”
