Chapter 2 - The Wedding That Turned Into a Nightmare|
For thirty years, Luca Moretti had believed his father was dead.
Now, in the middle of his own wedding reception, a barefoot elderly woman was telling him that everything he knew about his childhood was a lie.
I stood beside Margaret, my heart hammering so violently that I could barely hear the frightened whispers spreading through the ballroom.
Vanessa stared at the broken champagne glass near her expensive wedding shoes.
Then she looked at her husband.
“Luca, you cannot seriously believe this woman.”
Luca didn't answer.
His eyes were fixed on the yellowed envelope in Margaret's trembling hands.
“Give me the letter,” he said.
Margaret hesitated.
“Your father made me promise that I would only give it to you when you were ready to hear the truth.”
“I'm forty years old, Margaret.”
His voice cracked.
“I've been ready for thirty years.”
Something about those words made my chest ache.
Margaret finally placed the envelope in his hand.
Luca opened it carefully, as though the paper might fall apart beneath his fingers.
Inside was a handwritten letter and a small brass key.
He unfolded the letter.
I watched the color drain from his face as he began reading.
My Little Wolf,
If you're reading this, someone has finally found the courage to tell you what happened.
Whatever people say about me, remember that I never chose to leave you.
I trusted Victor Bellini with our family's future, and I made a terrible mistake.
He knows what happened at the warehouse.
He knows why I disappeared.
And he knows what I hid beneath the third stair at Saint Anthony's.
Never confuse the Moretti name with honor.
Honor is what you do when nobody powerful is watching.
I love you, son.
Dad.
Luca read the final sentence three times.
Nobody spoke.
Even Vanessa seemed to understand that something irreversible had happened.
Then an unfamiliar voice came from behind us.
“Well, this is certainly an unfortunate way to end a celebration.”
Victor Bellini stood beneath the ballroom entrance.
He was a tall, silver-haired man in an immaculate charcoal suit.
A gold ring gleamed on his hand.
His expression was calm, but his eyes were not.
He looked at Margaret.
For the first time since I had known him, Victor Bellini appeared frightened.
“Maggie,” he said softly.
Margaret recoiled.
“Don't call me that.”
Victor approached with the easy confidence of a man accustomed to controlling every room he entered.
“Luca, this poor woman has been troubled for years.”
Luca lifted the letter.
“Is this my father's handwriting?”
Victor glanced at it.
“I haven't seen Dominic's handwriting in decades.”
“That wasn't my question.”
Victor's smile faded.
“Yes, it appears to be.”
“Then tell me why he wrote that you knew what happened to him.”
Vanessa rushed between them.
“Dad, you don't have to explain yourself to someone who brought a stranger into our wedding.”
She pointed at me.
“This is Claire's fault.”
I almost laughed at the absurdity.
Thirty years of secrets, a missing father, and somehow I was responsible because I had given an elderly woman my shoes.
Victor turned toward me.
“You're the housemaid?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Then perhaps you should return to the kitchen.”
Before I could respond, Luca moved beside me.
“She stays.”
Victor raised an eyebrow.
“Excuse me?”
“She brought Margaret inside when everyone else wanted her left in the rain.”
Luca looked around the room.
“Apparently, that makes her the only person here whose judgment I can trust.”
My face warmed.
Vanessa looked as though he had slapped her.
“Are you choosing your maid over your wife?”
Luca turned to her.
“I'm choosing the truth.”
Victor's expression hardened.
“You are making an enormous mistake.”
“Then help me understand it.”
Luca stepped closer.
“Where is my father?”
Victor said nothing.
A security guard near the doors suddenly moved toward Margaret.
I recognized him as one of Victor's men.
He reached for her handbag.
“Sir, I need to inspect that.”
I pulled the handbag away.
“Don't touch her things.”
The guard grabbed my wrist.
Pain shot through my arm.
Before I could cry out, Luca caught the man's shoulder.
“Take your hand off her.”
The guard released me immediately.
Luca turned toward his head of security.
“Tomas, get every Bellini employee out of this house.”
Tomas Reyes, a broad-shouldered man who had worked for Luca for nearly fifteen years, nodded.
Victor laughed bitterly.
“You would throw your wife's family out over an old woman's story?”
Luca looked at his bride.
“Did you know?”
Vanessa swallowed.
“Know what?”
“That my father might be alive.”
Her silence was answer enough to frighten me.
“Vanessa.”
“I knew my father helped someone years ago.”
Her voice became defensive.
“I didn't know it was Dominic.”
Margaret shook her head.
“That isn't what you told me.”
Vanessa spun around.
“Shut up!”
Luca's expression became terrifyingly still.
“What did she tell you?”
Margaret gripped my hand.
“She came to see me six months ago.”
The chandeliers seemed suddenly too bright.
“She told me that if I ever spoke your father's name again, I would regret it.”
Victor moved toward his daughter.
“Vanessa, enough.”
But Luca had already heard.
“You threatened her?”
Vanessa began crying.
“Luca, please.”
He took a slow step backward.
“You stood beside me while I visited my father's grave.”
Her tears fell faster.
“You watched me put flowers on an empty grave.”
“Darling, I was trying to protect you.”
“From what?”
Vanessa couldn't answer.
Luca looked toward the wedding guests.
“The reception is over.”
A shocked murmur swept through the ballroom.
“Everyone leaves now.”
Victor stepped forward.
“Luca, think very carefully before destroying the alliance between our families.”
Luca looked him directly in the eyes.
“My father may have spent thirty years waiting for someone to find him.”
His voice dropped.
“I think your alliance can wait.”
As security began escorting guests toward the doors, Margaret suddenly pulled me closer.
Her breathing had become shallow.
“Claire, listen to me.”
“What is it?”
She looked toward Victor.
“I didn't come here only because of the wedding.”
My stomach tightened.
“Why did you come?”
Her voice became barely audible.
“Three days ago, a woman who once worked at Cedar House sent me a message.”
“What's Cedar House?”
Margaret began trembling.
“The place where they kept Dominic.”
I stared at her.
“She said they're moving him.”
“Moving him where?”
Margaret's eyes filled with terror.
“I don't know.”
May you like
Then she whispered something that made my blood run cold.
“She said if Luca doesn't find his father before tomorrow morning, he will never see him alive.”
