Chapter 8 - The Secret Isabella Trusted Me to Keep|
I didn't sleep that night.
Every time I closed my eyes, I saw Isabella standing beside her car.
I remembered her warm smile.
I remembered the way she used to tuck Sophia's hair behind her ears.
And I remembered the terrible afternoon when Luca came home without her.
At the time, everyone had called it an accident.
But there had always been details that didn't feel right.
The unanswered phone calls.
The sudden changes in the household security schedule.
The way Vincent had insisted that nobody discuss the crash around Luca.
And one final conversation that Isabella and I had shared in the laundry room.
A conversation I had spent two years trying to forget.
The next morning, I found Luca in the kitchen.
He was making pancakes for Sophia.
Or attempting to.
The first one had burned.
The second had stuck to the pan.
And the third looked more like a broken omelet.
I nearly smiled.
"Mr. Moretti, do you need help?"
He looked at the disaster in front of him.
"Apparently, running half of Chicago doesn't qualify a man to make breakfast."
I laughed despite myself.
"Not without practice."
Sophia entered wearing pink pajamas.
She stopped when she saw her father holding a spatula.
"Daddy?"
He turned.
"Good morning, princess."
"Are you cooking?"
"I'm trying."
She examined the pancakes.
"Claire makes them better."
"That's becoming painfully obvious."
For a few minutes, the kitchen felt almost normal.
Sophia helped me prepare a fresh batch.
Luca allowed her to add chocolate chips.
When she accidentally spilled flour across his black shirt, he laughed.
I hadn't heard that sound in a long time.
Then his phone rang.
Daniel Price wanted to meet.
After Sophia finished breakfast, Marco took her to the sunroom, where she could work on a sewing project while he remained nearby.
I followed Luca into his study.
Daniel arrived carrying a leather briefcase.
"The photograph you received appears genuine," he explained.
"Who sent it?" Luca asked.
"We don't know yet."
Daniel placed several documents on the desk.
"But I obtained copies of the original insurance records connected to Isabella's accident."
Luca examined them.
"What's this?"
"A service invoice."
"From where?"
"Northline Automotive."
The invoice showed that Isabella's car had undergone unexpected maintenance shortly before the crash.
The appointment had not been made by Isabella.
It had been requested through a company affiliated with Bellini Security.
Luca stared at the date.
"Why wasn't this in the original investigation file?"
Daniel's expression was grim.
"That's a question for Detective Brooks."
I felt a sudden chill.
"Mr. Moretti, there's something I need to tell you."
Both men looked at me.
I clasped my hands together.
"Four days before Mrs. Moretti died, she came into the laundry room carrying Sophia's pink dress."
Luca stood very still.
"Go on."
"She asked me to repair a loose seam along the lining."
I swallowed.
"While I was working, she took a small leather pouch from her pocket."
Luca looked toward the desk where the silver key now rested.
"The pouch?"
I nodded.
"She asked me to show her where the lining could be opened without damaging the dress."
Daniel leaned forward.
"Did she tell you why?"
"No."
I paused.
"She only said Sophia might need the dress someday."
Luca's expression softened.
"Why didn't you tell me this before?"
"Because I didn't know what she had hidden."
Then I remembered something else.
"She asked me a strange question."
"What question?"
"She wanted to know whether I believed people could pretend to love a child for the wrong reasons."
Luca looked away.
"I told her I didn't understand."
I stared at my hands.
"She said money could make some people pretend to be anything."
The study grew quiet.
Daniel closed his briefcase.
"Isabella was preparing for something."
I nodded slowly.
"Before she left the laundry room, she gave me a promise to keep."
Luca turned toward me.
"What promise?"
My throat tightened.
"She asked me never to let Sophia forget how much she was loved."
Tears blurred my vision.
"I thought she was just being sentimental."
Luca said nothing.
"But after she died, I tried to keep that promise."
I wiped my cheeks.
"When Vanessa moved in, she started removing Isabella's photographs."
Luca looked startled.
"What?"
"She said they made the house depressing."
"Why wasn't I told?"
"She said you'd approved it."
I took a breath.
"She replaced the family portrait in the library with your wedding photograph."
Luca stared at the floor.
"I didn't notice."
"No."
I hesitated.
"You were away so much that you didn't see Sophia sitting beneath the empty wall, asking where her mother's face had gone."
His expression crumpled.
I had never intended to wound him.
But someone needed to tell him the truth.
"Mr. Moretti, Sophia didn't need a bigger bedroom or another vacation."
My voice shook.
"She needed her father to notice she was disappearing."
Luca sat down.
For several seconds, he said nothing.
Then he whispered, "I failed her."
I moved closer.
"You still have time to change that."
He looked up.
"I intend to."
Daniel's phone rang.
He answered and listened carefully.
Then his expression changed.
"That was Detective Brooks."
Luca stood.
"What did she say?"
"She's agreed to meet with us."
"When?"
"This afternoon."
Daniel hesitated.
"But she said there's something about Isabella's accident that Vincent never told you."
Luca's face hardened.
"What?"
May you like
Daniel looked directly at him.
"Isabella called the police before she died."
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