Chapter 3 - The Woman Who Came Through the Servants' Entrance|
"Started what transfer?"
Luca's voice was frighteningly quiet.
But Dominic Moretti had already ended the call.
For several seconds, nobody spoke.
Then Luca called him back.
The phone went directly to voicemail.
Marcus immediately contacted the guards stationed at the property's entrance.
Vanessa watched every movement with growing irritation.
"Are we seriously going to spend the night chasing ridiculous accusations?"
Luca turned toward her.
"Go upstairs."
Her mouth fell open.
"Excuse me?"
"You heard me."
"I'm your fiancée, Luca!"
"Then perhaps you should start acting like someone who respects my family."
Vanessa's expression hardened.
For one brief moment, I saw the hatred beneath her perfect makeup.
Then she smiled.
"Fine, darling."
"But don't blame me when this little performance destroys our wedding."
She walked away, her high heels striking the marble floor.
Olivia watched until Vanessa disappeared.
Then she signed a question.
Do you believe me now?
Luca looked at her for a long moment.
"Yes."
Olivia didn't smile.
She simply nodded.
Because believing her now didn't erase all the times he hadn't listened before.
I remained beside her while Marcus explained what he knew about the suspicious documents.
According to the family trust agreement, Olivia was entitled to assume full control of her inheritance after turning thirty.
Her inheritance included investments, family property, and a charitable fund established by her late father.
But Richard Hayes had delayed the final transfer for months.
He claimed the paperwork required additional reviews.
Olivia had repeatedly asked why.
Nobody had given her a clear answer.
"Why didn't you tell me?" Luca asked.
Olivia signed slowly.
I tried.
I translated.
Richard said you were too busy with the wedding.
Luca closed his eyes.
I could see him remembering every canceled appointment and interrupted conversation.
Vanessa had always insisted Olivia's financial concerns could wait.
Now we understood why.
At 11:38 p.m., a security alarm sounded near the servants' entrance.
Marcus reached for his radio.
"There's a woman at the rear gate."
Luca's expression sharpened.
"Who?"
"She says her name is Evelyn Price."
"Never heard of her."
"She claims she works for Richard Hayes."
Olivia suddenly grabbed my arm.
Her hands moved quickly.
Let her inside.
I translated.
Luca frowned.
"Do you know her?"
Olivia nodded.
She's the woman who helped me with paperwork before Richard stopped allowing her into meetings.
Marcus brought Evelyn into the downstairs library.
She was in her early forties, wearing a gray wool coat over wrinkled office clothes.
Her hair was damp from the rain.
She carried a leather briefcase against her chest as though it contained something precious.
The moment she saw Olivia, her eyes filled with tears.
"Thank God you're all right."
Olivia approached her and signed a greeting.
Evelyn understood enough to respond with a shaky smile.
Then she turned toward Luca.
"Mr. Moretti, I need you to listen carefully."
"I've worked as Richard Hayes's senior paralegal for eleven years."
"And tonight, I discovered something that could destroy your sister's future."
She opened her briefcase.
Inside were copies of legal documents, financial statements, and an unsigned affidavit.
The affidavit claimed Olivia was incapable of understanding complex financial decisions.
I stared at it.
"That's a lie."
Evelyn nodded.
"Yes, it is."
She pointed toward a physician's name printed beneath the statement.
"Richard wanted me to arrange a signature from a doctor who has never examined Olivia."
Luca's hand curled into a fist.
"Why?"
"Because they're trying to manufacture grounds for placing her assets under someone else's control."
Olivia signed furiously.
Being Deaf doesn't make me incompetent.
I translated.
Evelyn looked directly at her.
"You're absolutely right."
She pulled out another document.
It was a proposed amendment to the Moretti family trust.
According to its wording, an appointed administrator could manage Olivia's inheritance if a court approved findings that she lacked decision-making capacity.
The proposed administrator was Vanessa Bellini.
After marriage, the paperwork would identify her as Vanessa Moretti.
Luca read the pages with increasing disbelief.
"She doesn't become the owner just because we get married."
"Correct," Evelyn answered.
"But Richard is using the wedding as a deadline and a cover story for forged authorizations, a false incapacity petition, and transfers into companies controlled by Vanessa."
My stomach twisted.
The wedding wasn't merely a celebration.
It was supposed to distract everyone while the stolen documents moved through banks and government offices.
"How much money?" Luca asked.
Evelyn hesitated.
"Potentially more than thirty million dollars in assets."
I felt Olivia's fingers tighten around mine.
But she wasn't looking at the numbers.
She was looking at something printed at the bottom of the affidavit.
A signature.
Her own name.
Olivia Moretti.
She shook her head violently.
Then she signed.
I never signed this.
Evelyn nodded.
"I know."
"Richard asked me to witness the signature tomorrow, even though it was already printed on the document."
Luca stared at her.
"Why are you telling us this?"
Evelyn swallowed.
"Because I have a daughter who is Deaf."
"She's nineteen, and she deserves to grow up in a world where people don't treat her intelligence as something they can steal."
Olivia stepped forward.
She placed her hand over Evelyn's.
For the first time that night, she smiled.
Then Evelyn removed a small encrypted drive from her pocket.
"This contains copies of Richard's instructions, financial records, and messages between him and Vanessa."
Marcus moved toward the library computer.
But Evelyn stopped him.
"Don't connect it to any machine on your household network."
"Richard has access to systems you may not even know exist."
Luca immediately called an independent attorney named Natalie Brooks.
He also contacted a detective he trusted, Elena Ruiz, and asked her to meet them with a digital-forensics specialist.
I realized he wasn't simply planning revenge.
He was finally trying to protect Olivia through evidence rather than fear.
Then Evelyn's phone began ringing.
She looked at the screen.
Her face went pale.
"It's Richard."
"Don't answer," Marcus warned.
But a text message appeared before she could silence it.
Evelyn read the words.
Then she dropped the phone onto the table.
I picked it up.
The message contained a photograph of the Moretti mansion.
It had been taken less than a minute earlier.
And beneath it was a sentence.
Tell Luca the truth if you want, Evelyn.
But ask him which room his sister is sleeping in tonight.
May you like
Before I could finish reading, every light in the mansion went out.
And somewhere upstairs, a woman screamed.
