Chapter 2 - The Signature That Shouldn't Exist|
For the first time since I had started working at the Moretti mansion, I saw Luca Moretti look genuinely frightened.
Not angry.
Not threatening.
Frightened.
He stood beneath the enormous crystal chandelier, holding a document that supposedly proved he had abandoned his nine-year-old daughter.
And the worst part was that his signature appeared at the bottom.
"Vanessa," he said quietly, "I want an explanation."
His new wife adjusted the diamond necklace resting against her wedding gown.
"Luca, darling, this really isn't the place."
"Then perhaps you should have thought about that before giving my daughter legal documents during our wedding."
Several guests exchanged uncomfortable glances.
I placed my arm around Sophia's shoulders, feeling her small body trembling against mine.
Vanessa lowered her voice.
"You're embarrassing me in front of everyone."
Luca looked at her.
"You're worried about embarrassment?"
"Of course I am!"
"My daughter spent my wedding crying behind a curtain because someone told her she no longer belonged to this family."
Vanessa's expression hardened.
"Children can be extremely manipulative when they don't get their way."
Something changed in Luca's face.
"Be very careful about what you say next."
Vanessa opened her mouth, but he had already turned his attention back to the document.
I watched his eyes move across the page.
At the top, beneath an official-looking heading, were the words VOLUNTARY DECLARATION OF PARENTAL DISENGAGEMENT.
The document claimed that Luca had agreed to surrender his authority over Sophia's daily care and support her permanent relocation.
It also claimed he had approved future adjustments to her inheritance arrangements.
At the bottom appeared a signature reading Luca A. Moretti.
Beside it was a notary's stamp.
Luca studied the signature for several seconds.
Then he laughed.
It was a short, humorless sound that made Vanessa visibly uncomfortable.
"This isn't my signature."
Vanessa blinked.
"What?"
"I said this isn't my signature."
"That's ridiculous."
Luca held up the paper.
"You've lived with me for eight months, Vanessa."
"Yes, and?"
"Then you should know that I haven't signed my name this way in fifteen years."
I glanced at the signature.
It looked perfectly ordinary to me.
But Luca pointed toward the final letter.
"My father taught me to sign every important document with a particular mark beneath my last initial."
He showed us the bottom of the page.
"That mark isn't here."
Vanessa swallowed.
"Perhaps you were distracted when you signed it."
"Perhaps someone copied an old signature from a business document."
The silence became unbearable.
Sophia pressed her face against my waist.
"Daddy, does that mean you didn't want me to leave?"
Luca immediately dropped to one knee.
"Sweetheart, listen carefully."
He took both her hands.
"I never signed anything saying I didn't want you."
"But Vanessa said you did."
"I know."
"She said you were starting a different family."
His jaw tightened.
"There is no different family, princess."
He brushed a tear from her cheek.
"You are my family."
Sophia began crying harder.
This time, however, she reached for her father.
Luca gathered her into his arms and held her so tightly that I could see his shoulders shaking.
For a moment, he looked nothing like the powerful man whose name made half of Chicago nervous.
He looked like a father realizing how close he had come to losing his daughter's trust.
Then Vanessa made a terrible mistake.
"Honestly, Luca, she's being dramatic."
He stood slowly, keeping Sophia against his chest.
"Enough."
Vanessa stepped toward him.
"You cannot allow a nine-year-old to destroy our wedding."
"My daughter didn't destroy anything."
He looked directly into Vanessa's eyes.
"You did."
The wedding planner, Nora Whitfield, approached nervously.
"Mr. Moretti, the photographer is waiting for the family portraits."
Luca turned toward her.
"Did you know my daughter had been removed from the procession?"
Nora hesitated.
"Mrs. Bellini told me the arrangements had been approved by your office."
"Show me the approval."
"I can retrieve the correspondence."
"Do that."
Vanessa grabbed his sleeve.
"Luca, please."
He pulled his arm away.
"Daniel."
The mansion's security chief appeared almost immediately.
"Yes, sir?"
"I want every document connected to today's ceremony preserved."
"Understood."
"Every email, every revised program, every delivery record, and every security recording."
Vanessa's face drained of color.
"Luca, you're behaving like I've committed a crime."
He looked down at the paper again.
"Someone forged my signature on a document involving my daughter."
His voice became dangerously calm.
"I intend to find out who."
He instructed Daniel to arrange transportation for the departing guests and asked Nora to announce that the reception was ending because of a private family matter.
Within minutes, the musicians stopped playing.
The champagne remained untouched.
And the celebration Vanessa had spent nearly a million dollars organizing began to disappear around her.
Sophia stayed in her father's arms.
I quietly suggested taking her upstairs.
But she clung tighter to him.
"Please don't make me go away again."
Luca kissed her forehead.
"I'm not letting you out of my sight tonight."
Vanessa watched us from beside the staircase.
Then she spoke.
"You're making a mistake, Luca."
He turned.
"Excuse me?"
"You think this is only about a piece of paper."
He narrowed his eyes.
"What is that supposed to mean?"
Vanessa looked toward the document in his hand.
Then she smiled.
A small, strangely confident smile.
"Even if you destroy that copy, it won't change what's already been arranged."
Luca moved one step closer.
"What has been arranged?"
Vanessa said nothing.
But I noticed something that made my stomach twist.
She wasn't looking at Luca anymore.
She was looking at Sophia.
May you like
And for one terrifying second, I understood that the wedding program had never been the real plan.
It had only been the beginning.
