Chapter 2 - The Woman Who Was Supposed to Be Dead|
“My name is Elizabeth Bellini.”
The woman in the silver gown said it so quietly that I almost didn't hear her.
But Luca Moretti heard every word.
His hand remained wrapped around his mother's trembling fingers as he slowly turned toward the woman who had spent the evening pretending to be Mrs. Lancaster.
“Bellini?” he repeated.
Elizabeth nodded.
“Yes.”
Luca's eyes moved toward Vanessa.
Then back to Elizabeth.
“Are you telling me you're related to my fiancée?”
Elizabeth's lips trembled.
“She's my daughter.”
A shocked murmur swept through the dining room.
Twenty-six guests stared at the woman in silver.
Vanessa stood beside her chair, looking as though someone had pulled the floor out from beneath her.
“Mother,” she whispered, “please.”
Mother.
That single word confirmed everything.
Luca slowly released Rosa's hand.
“You told me your mother died when you were nineteen.”
Vanessa swallowed.
“She was supposed to stay out of this.”
The room went completely silent.
I felt my fingers tighten around the back of Rosa's chair.
Because Vanessa hadn't denied the lie.
She had simply admitted that her mother wasn't supposed to be there.
Luca looked toward Elizabeth.
“Why did my father know you?”
Elizabeth pressed a trembling hand against her chest.
“Antonio and I worked together many years ago.”
“My father employed you?”
“Yes. I handled financial records for one of his companies.”
Luca frowned.
“Which company?”
“Moretti Property Holdings.”
His expression changed.
I recognized the name.
Moretti Property Holdings owned the mansion, several apartment buildings in Chicago, and the small rehabilitation center where Rosa had attended physical therapy after her last fall.
Elizabeth continued.
“Your father helped me when I had nowhere else to go. My husband had left me with debts, and Vanessa was still a teenager.”
Rosa nodded slowly.
“I remember.”
Luca looked toward his mother.
“You knew Elizabeth?”
“Not well, sweetheart. She came to dinner once. Your father said she was a very good accountant.”
Elizabeth began crying.
“He was more than kind to us.”
Vanessa suddenly interrupted.
“Can we please stop turning my engagement dinner into a story about everyone's miserable past?”
Luca looked at her.
“Your mother is alive.”
Vanessa froze.
“You made me believe she was dead.”
“I didn't want you asking questions about my family.”
“Then why invite her to our wedding?”
Vanessa's mouth opened.
Nothing came out.
Elizabeth lowered her eyes.
“Because I insisted on seeing you before the ceremony.”
Luca turned toward her.
“Why?”
She took a shaky breath.
“Because your father left something with me.”
The silence became unbearable.
Rosa gripped my wrist.
I leaned closer.
“Mrs. Moretti, are you all right?”
She nodded.
But her eyes remained fixed on Elizabeth.
“Antonio,” she whispered. “What did you do?”
Elizabeth reached into her silver handbag.
Vanessa lunged forward.
“Mother, don't!”
Luca stepped between them.
“Stay where you are.”
For the first time that evening, Vanessa looked genuinely frightened.
Elizabeth removed a small envelope.
It was yellowed around the edges.
Across the front, written in dark blue ink, were two words.
FOR LUCA.
Luca stared.
“That's my father's handwriting.”
Elizabeth nodded.
“He gave it to me shortly before he died.”
“Why didn't you give it to me then?”
“Because he told me not to open the arrangement unless Vanessa tried to become part of your family.”
Luca slowly looked toward his fiancée.
“Why would my father say that?”
Elizabeth began crying harder.
“He knew Vanessa had been asking questions about the family's property records. He believed someone was helping her.”
Vanessa laughed bitterly.
“This is unbelievable.”
Luca didn't look at her.
He took the envelope.
His fingers hesitated over the seal.
Then he opened it.
Inside was a handwritten letter and a small brass key.
Luca unfolded the letter.
I watched his face change as he read.
At first, confusion.
Then disbelief.
Then something much darker.
He lowered the paper.
“Vanessa.”
She stood motionless.
“Did you ask my father to transfer ownership of my mother's home?”
My stomach dropped.
Rosa made a small sound beside me.
Vanessa shook her head.
“I don't know what you're talking about.”
Luca lifted the letter.
“My father wrote that you approached him about placing this estate in a family trust under your control.”
Vanessa's face reddened.
“I was nineteen!”
“And he refused.”
She said nothing.
“He also wrote that you threatened to expose confidential business records if he didn't agree.”
Elizabeth covered her mouth.
Vanessa turned toward her.
“You promised!”
Luca stared at Vanessa.
“Promised what?”
Elizabeth's voice broke.
“I promised my daughter I would never tell anyone what happened.”
Rosa's cane slipped against the marble.
I caught it before it fell.
Luca immediately turned.
“Mom?”
Rosa was shaking.
“Sweetheart,” she whispered, “your father once told me someone had tried to take this house away from us.”
Luca looked at her.
“When?”
“Two months before he died.”
Her eyes filled.
“He said he'd made sure nobody could ever force me out.”
Luca slowly looked back at Vanessa.
“And tonight you were preparing to send her to a retirement residence.”
Vanessa stepped backward.
“Luca, you're connecting things that have nothing to do with each other.”
He looked toward the envelope.
Then at the brass key.
“Maybe.”
His voice became dangerously quiet.
“But I'm going to find out.”
Elizabeth reached for his arm.
“Luca, there's something else.”
He turned.
“What?”
Her eyes filled with fresh tears.
“Your father didn't just leave a letter.”
She swallowed.
“He left evidence.”
“Evidence of what?”
Elizabeth looked directly at Vanessa.
May you like
Then whispered the words that made my blood turn cold.
“That your fiancée has been preparing to take everything your mother owns.”
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