Chapter 7 - The Voice on the Tablet|
The next morning, I found Rosa sitting alone in Sofia's old sitting room.
She was holding a photograph of a beautiful brunette woman beside a younger Luca.
Sofia stood between them, laughing with baby Benjamin in her arms.
Rosa looked up when I entered.
"Come sit with me, Claire."
I sat beside her.
For several minutes, she studied the photograph.
"Sofia was twenty-nine when we lost her."
"I'm sorry."
"She was the only person who could argue with Luca and make him listen."
Rosa smiled faintly.
"She used to say that a man's strength meant nothing if the people who loved him were afraid to tell him the truth."
I thought about Luca standing in the kitchen, apologizing to his son.
"She sounds wonderful."
"She was."
Rosa placed the photograph on the table.
"She also worried about the Moretti money."
I looked at her.
"What do you mean?"
"Not because she wanted more of it."
Rosa sighed.
"Because she knew money could attract people who cared about Benjamin's inheritance more than Benjamin himself."
That was why Sofia had insisted on an independent trustee.
Her own family had left her valuable commercial property interests, and she wanted those assets protected from every branch of the Moretti family's business.
Rosa's hands tightened around the photograph.
"She didn't want our grandson growing up believing love was something people could buy."
I thought of the way Vanessa had mocked Benjamin for asking for food.
A child who inherited millions had been made to feel guilty for needing a sandwich.
The cruelty was almost impossible to comprehend.
Rosa looked toward the hallway.
"I should have seen what Vanessa was doing."
"She hid it carefully."
"I heard Benjamin crying some nights."
My heart sank.
"What did she tell you?"
"She said he was grieving and needed stricter discipline."
Rosa wiped her eyes.
"I should have asked him myself."
I took her hand.
"We all wish we'd noticed sooner."
She looked at me.
"But you believed him when he came to you."
I shook my head.
"I didn't understand what was happening until the nurse called."
"You fed him."
Her voice broke.
"When everyone else was arguing about what kind of child he was, you simply fed him."
I couldn't answer.
Just then, Benjamin appeared holding his school tablet.
"Grandma Rosa?"
She immediately opened her arms.
"Come here, darling."
He climbed onto the couch between us.
"I found something."
He held up the tablet.
"It was in my messages."
The screen displayed a missed call from Vanessa through a family communication application.
The call had come in the previous evening.
Because Benjamin hadn't answered, Vanessa had left a voice message.
His fingers trembled as he pressed play.
Vanessa's voice filled the quiet room.
"Benjamin, your father is making a huge mistake."
I felt Rosa stiffen beside me.
"Everyone is going to ask you questions, and I need you to remember what we practiced."
There was a pause.
"You were unhappy because Claire kept giving you too much food, and you threw it away because you were angry."
Benjamin lowered his head.
The recording continued.
"If you tell them anything different, Claire could lose her job, and your father might decide you really do belong at Cedar Hollow."
Then Vanessa's voice softened into something almost sweet.
"So be a good boy, and do what I told you."
The message ended.
For a long moment, the three of us remained silent.
Then Benjamin whispered, "I didn't want Claire to get fired."
I wrapped an arm around him.
"You haven't done anything wrong."
"She told me it would be my fault."
Rosa took his face between her hands.
"Listen to me, sweetheart."
"Adults are responsible for their own choices."
Benjamin looked from his grandmother to me.
"Even if they get angry?"
"Especially then," Rosa said.
I called Luca.
He arrived within minutes, followed by Elena.
We played the message for them.
Luca stood motionless as his wife's voice filled the room.
When it ended, he stared at the tablet.
"She left that for him?"
Benjamin nodded.
"I'm sorry, Daddy."
Luca knelt in front of his son.
"No more apologizing for telling the truth."
"But she said you'd be mad."
"I'm angry at what she did."
He brushed a tear from Benjamin's cheek.
"I'm not angry at you."
Elena asked permission to preserve the message for the investigators.
She explained that Benjamin wouldn't be expected to become the family's detective or confront Vanessa.
Adults would take responsibility for gathering the evidence.
That seemed to comfort him.
After lunch, Elena contacted Detective Brooks and arranged for the original message and its metadata to be documented.
The detective said it could help establish that Vanessa had attempted to influence Benjamin's account.
Later that afternoon, Luca invited Benjamin into the study.
I was there helping the boy with his homework when he sat down beside his father.
"Daddy, can I ask something?"
"Anything."
"Are you really a bad man?"
The question stopped me.
Luca looked at his son for a long time.
"Why do you ask?"
"Kids at school say you scare people."
Luca lowered his eyes.
"Sometimes I've made choices I'm not proud of."
Benjamin shifted closer.
"Did you scare Mommy?"
"No."
"Did you scare Vanessa?"
Luca's expression changed.
"Benjamin, whatever problems I have with Vanessa, they're not your fault."
"But are you going to hurt her?"
I held my breath.
Luca reached for his son's hand.
"No, buddy."
"I want the police and the courts to deal with what happened."
Benjamin studied him carefully.
Then he nodded.
"Mommy said being brave doesn't mean making people afraid."
Luca went still.
A tear rolled down his cheek.
"She was right."
That evening, Elena called from her office.
She had received new information from Margaret Bell, the independent trustee.
Grant Hale had attempted to submit an urgent request for a large trust distribution to Cedar Hollow.
The request claimed Benjamin required expensive residential medical treatment.
But the bank had refused to process it without proper legal authority.
Elena explained that the demand was only one part of a larger financial trail.
She had also discovered that Grant's company was facing serious debt.
Luca listened in silence.
Then Elena said something that made every person in the room look up.
"There's another reason Vanessa needed Benjamin removed from your care."
"What reason?"
"Because Grant Hale's creditors are demanding nearly five million dollars."
May you like
She paused.
"And the private company standing behind Cedar Hollow appears to be connected to Vanessa herself."
