Chapter 3 - The Bedroom That Was No Longer Hers|
The first thing Sophia asked when we reached the second floor was whether she could sleep in her own bedroom.
Luca was carrying her up the grand staircase.
I followed closely behind, holding the two documents she had given him.
"Of course you can, princess," he answered.
Sophia hesitated.
"Even if Vanessa says I can't?"
Luca stopped walking.
"Why would Vanessa say that?"
The little girl lowered her eyes.
"She said my room was going to belong to someone else."
Luca looked at me.
I had no explanation.
Sophia's bedroom had been at the eastern end of the second floor since she was born.
Her mother, Isabella, had personally chosen the soft lavender wallpaper and the white wooden furniture.
A collection of stuffed animals sat beside the window.
Above the bed hung a painting of three people standing beneath a flowering cherry tree.
Luca, Isabella, and Sophia.
It was the last family portrait Isabella had commissioned before her illness.
When we reached the bedroom, however, the door was locked.
Luca frowned.
"Claire, do you have the key?"
"Yes, Mr. Moretti."
I retrieved it from my apron pocket.
But the lock had been changed.
My key wouldn't turn.
Luca stared at the door.
Then he called Daniel.
"Bring me the master key."
Daniel arrived less than a minute later.
When he opened the door, Sophia let out a small gasp.
Her bedroom was almost empty.
The stuffed animals were gone.
The painting had disappeared.
Her bookshelves had been cleared.
Even the lavender curtains had been replaced with expensive white drapes.
Three large cardboard boxes stood beside the wardrobe.
Across the top of each was a label bearing Sophia's name.
I felt sick.
I had been helping with wedding preparations downstairs all afternoon.
No one had told me that anyone intended to move Sophia's belongings.
"Daddy?"
Her voice was barely audible.
"Where's my room?"
Luca walked inside without answering.
He placed Sophia carefully on the floor and opened the nearest box.
Inside were her favorite books.
Her ballet slippers.
A silver picture frame containing a photograph of Isabella.
And the small stuffed rabbit her mother had given her when she was four.
Sophia immediately reached for the rabbit.
"That's Rosie."
She pressed it against her chest.
"Mommy gave her to me."
Luca closed his eyes.
For several seconds, he seemed unable to speak.
Then he turned toward Daniel.
"Who authorized this?"
Daniel checked the clipboard attached to one of the boxes.
"The moving company received instructions from Mrs. Bellini's personal assistant."
"When?"
"Yesterday morning, sir."
"Where were these things supposed to go?"
Daniel examined the paperwork.
His expression changed.
"Apparently, some items were assigned to storage."
Luca pointed toward the other boxes.
"And the rest?"
Daniel hesitated.
"They were scheduled for delivery to Cedar Ridge Academy."
I looked up sharply.
"Cedar Ridge?"
Sophia started shaking.
"That's the school Vanessa told me about."
Luca knelt beside her.
"What school, sweetheart?"
"The one where little girls live all year."
"A boarding school?"
She nodded.
"She said I'd have my own room there."
Sophia clutched her rabbit.
"And she said if I was good, maybe you'd visit me at Christmas."
I had never seen Luca turn so pale.
He gently lifted his daughter's chin.
"Did I ever tell you that you were going to boarding school?"
"No."
"Did I ever ask you if you wanted to go?"
"No."
"Then nobody had permission to send you there."
Sophia searched his face.
"Not even Vanessa?"
"Not even Vanessa."
A faint sound came from the doorway.
Vanessa stood there, still wearing her wedding gown.
Behind her was her older sister, Mara Bellini, whose ten-year-old daughter, Madison, had walked in the wedding procession.
"Oh, honestly," Vanessa said.
"Are we going to have another scene?"
Luca stood.
"Explain the boxes."
Vanessa glanced around the room.
"We were redecorating."
"For whom?"
She sighed.
"For Madison, temporarily."
Mara immediately looked uncomfortable.
"Vanessa, you told me Luca had agreed to let Madison use this room when she visited."
"That's because he did."
"No," Luca answered.
"I didn't."
Vanessa crossed her arms.
"Well, Madison needs somewhere appropriate to stay when she's here."
"And my daughter doesn't?"
"That's not what I meant."
"Then where was Sophia supposed to sleep?"
Vanessa looked toward the boxes.
"Cedar Ridge is an excellent school."
"She's nine."
"It's perfectly normal for wealthy families to send children away."
Luca stepped toward her.
"Not without telling their father."
Vanessa's face tightened.
"I thought we agreed that Sophia needed more structure."
"We discussed hiring a tutor."
"Boarding school would accomplish the same thing."
"Those aren't remotely the same thing."
Mara quietly took a step backward.
I noticed Madison standing behind her mother, looking horrified.
The little girl stared at Sophia's empty room.
Then she whispered something to Mara.
Mara placed a hand over her daughter's mouth.
Luca noticed.
"Madison, sweetheart, do you want to tell me something?"
Madison shook her head quickly.
Vanessa answered for her.
"She's tired, Luca."
But Sophia had already approached the little girl.
"Did you want my room?"
Madison's eyes filled with tears.
"No."
She looked at Vanessa.
"Aunt Vanessa told me you didn't live here anymore."
The hallway went silent.
Vanessa closed her eyes.
"Madison, that's enough."
But Madison kept speaking.
"She said I shouldn't feel bad about taking your place."
Sophia turned toward her father.
"Daddy?"
Luca immediately reached for her hand.
"No one is taking your place."
He looked at Vanessa.
"Not in this room."
Then his gaze moved toward the wedding ring on her finger.
"And not in this family."
Vanessa's expression became furious.
"You cannot undo everything just because a few children misunderstood me."
Luca pulled his phone from his pocket.
"Daniel, cancel every transportation arrangement made for Sophia."
"Yes, sir."
"Notify Cedar Ridge Academy that no application, enrollment, or travel permission has my authorization until my attorney verifies the documents."
"Understood."
Then Luca turned to me.
"Claire, would you help Sophia unpack?"
"Of course."
"And find the painting of Isabella."
"I will."
He looked around the empty bedroom.
"Everything that belongs to my daughter comes back here."
Sophia began smiling through her tears.
But before I could open the second box, Daniel's phone rang.
He answered, listened briefly, and looked toward Luca.
"Sir, there's something else."
"What?"
"The school administrator says Sophia's enrollment paperwork was completed three weeks ago."
Luca frowned.
"That's impossible."
Daniel swallowed.
"She says the forms include your signature, a guardian authorization, and a departure date."
"When?"
Daniel looked down at his phone.
"Monday morning."
Luca went completely still.
It was Saturday night.
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Someone had planned to remove Sophia from the mansion less than forty-eight hours after his wedding.
And they had intended to do it before he discovered she was missing.
