Chapter 6 - The Photograph Rosa Had Hidden for Seven Years|
The next morning, I found Rosa sitting beside her bedroom window.
She wore a pale blue cardigan and held a framed photograph in her lap.
Outside, Chicago was wrapped in gray autumn clouds.
The garden trees had begun losing their leaves.
“Good morning, Mrs. Moretti.”
She looked up.
“Good morning, sweetheart.”
I approached with her breakfast tray.
“Did you sleep?”
She smiled sadly.
“A little.”
I placed the tray beside her.
Then noticed the photograph.
Antonio Moretti stood outside a small brick building.
Beside him were Rosa, Elizabeth Bellini, and a group of women holding flowers.
A sign above the entrance read:
MORETTI FAMILY CARE CENTER.
I frowned.
“Where was this taken?”
Rosa looked down.
“Twenty years ago.”
“Was that one of your husband's businesses?”
She shook her head.
“No. It was mine.”
I stared.
“Yours?”
She smiled faintly.
“Before my health became difficult, I helped run a small care center for elderly people who couldn't afford private assistance.”
I sat beside her.
“I didn't know.”
“Most people don't.”
Her eyes moved toward the photograph.
“Antonio bought the building because my mother had spent her final years in a terrible nursing home. I wanted to create somewhere better.”
My throat tightened.
“My mother had surgery earlier this year. Finding good care has been difficult.”
Rosa looked at me.
“Then you understand.”
I nodded.
She touched the photograph.
“We helped families for years. Some paid what they could. Others paid nothing.”
“What happened to the center?”
Her expression changed.
“Money disappeared.”
I went still.
“How much?”
Rosa swallowed.
“Eighteen million dollars.”
My heart nearly stopped.
She looked toward me.
“Antonio had arranged a charitable endowment. It was supposed to fund the center and several community programs long after we were gone.”
I stared at the photograph.
“What happened?”
“Daniel Mercer was managing some of the investments. Then the accounts stopped making sense.”
She lowered her eyes.
“Antonio discovered someone had moved money into private companies.”
“Vanessa?”
Rosa shook her head.
“Not entirely. She was very young then. But she knew Daniel.”
I thought of the documents in Antonio's study.
The forged signatures.
The proposed property transfers.
Suddenly, the story became clearer.
“Did Mr. Moretti recover the money?”
“Some of it.”
Her voice broke.
“But he became ill before he could finish investigating.”
I took her hand.
“Mrs. Moretti, why didn't you tell Luca?”
She looked ashamed.
“Because Antonio asked me to wait until he had proof.”
“And after he died?”
“Daniel told me the missing money had been lost in bad investments. He said bringing it up would only hurt Luca's business.”
I swallowed.
“So you believed him?”
“I wanted to.”
She looked toward the window.
“And then I became ill. My mobility got worse. The center closed. Eventually, I convinced myself that perhaps Antonio had been mistaken.”
Tears filled her eyes.
“But last Tuesday, when Elizabeth came here, she told me the money had never been lost.”
I felt cold.
“What?”
Rosa nodded.
“She said Daniel had hidden it through property companies. She said Vanessa knew where it was.”
My stomach tightened.
“Did Vanessa hear that conversation?”
“Yes.”
Rosa began trembling.
“She came into my bedroom afterward.”
I leaned closer.
“What did she say?”
The old woman's eyes filled.
“She told me if I mentioned the money, Luca would discover that Antonio had trusted me to oversee the charity.”
I frowned.
“Why would that upset him?”
Rosa swallowed.
“Vanessa said the financial losses would be blamed on me.”
My heart ached.
“She threatened you.”
Rosa nodded.
“She said people would think I was a foolish old woman who'd wasted millions meant for struggling families.”
Tears slipped down her cheeks.
“I couldn't bear the thought of Luca believing that.”
I squeezed her hand.
“Mrs. Moretti, you didn't steal that money.”
“I know.”
“Then you have nothing to be ashamed of.”
She looked at me.
For a long moment, neither of us spoke.
Then she whispered, “Hannah, do you know why I wanted my chair beside Luca last night?”
I shook my head.
“Because I wanted to tell him the truth before the wedding.”
My throat tightened.
“But Vanessa said if I embarrassed her, she'd make sure I was moved away before I could speak.”
Rosa looked toward her cane.
“So I almost stayed quiet.”
I felt tears in my own eyes.
“But you didn't.”
She smiled sadly.
“Because you brought my chair back.”
A soft knock sounded.
Luca stood in the doorway.
He had heard the final sentence.
“Mom?”
Rosa looked up.
Her eyes filled.
“Luca.”
He approached.
Then knelt beside her chair.
“Tell me about the care center.”
Rosa stared.
“How much did you hear?”
“Enough to know Dad wasn't protecting his reputation.”
He took her hand.
“He was protecting your life's work.”
Rosa began crying.
Luca gently embraced her.
For a long time, neither spoke.
Then he looked at the photograph.
“The building still exists?”
Rosa nodded.
“It's empty now.”
His expression changed.
“Then we're going to find out what happened to the money.”
She shook her head.
“Sweetheart, I don't want trouble.”
He smiled sadly.
“Mom, you spent years helping people who had nowhere to go.”
His voice softened.
“You deserve to know where that money went.”
Rosa began crying again.
I turned away to give them privacy.
But before I reached the door, Luca called my name.
“Hannah?”
I stopped.
“Yes, sir?”
He looked at his mother.
Then at me.
“Would you help us?”
I stared.
“Help with what?”
He held up the photograph.
“Bring this place back.”
I couldn't speak.
Because until that moment, I'd believed I was just the housemaid who'd moved a chair.
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But Luca Moretti was asking me to help restore something his mother had lost.
And I had no idea that the decision would change my life.
