Chapter 4 - The Secret Their Father Left Behind|
The scream came from the second floor.
"Olivia!"
Luca shouted his sister's name even though she couldn't hear him.
Then he grabbed a flashlight from Marcus and ran toward the staircase.
I caught Olivia's attention and signed quickly.
Stay with me.
She nodded, her face pale.
The mansion's emergency lighting flickered on.
Red lights illuminated the long hallway while security guards moved through the darkness.
We followed Luca upstairs.
Vanessa stood outside her bedroom in a silk robe, pointing toward the ceiling.
"Someone turned off the power!"
"Obviously," Luca muttered.
But another guard appeared from the west wing.
"Sir, there's smoke coming from the security equipment room."
Marcus immediately ordered everyone away from the hallway.
Within minutes, the mansion's fire-suppression system had activated, and emergency responders were on their way.
Fortunately, nobody was injured.
But the damage was serious.
Someone had deliberately set a small fire near the equipment storing the mansion's surveillance recordings.
The footage from earlier that afternoon was now at risk.
"How convenient," Vanessa said.
"Now we'll never know who entered your office."
Luca turned toward her.
"You're right about one thing."
Her smile returned.
"What's that?"
"Someone is desperate to make sure we never find out."
Vanessa said nothing.
Olivia was looking past her.
Then she tapped my shoulder.
Her hands moved carefully.
I know where Father kept another copy.
I blinked.
"Another copy of what?"
The original trust documents.
I translated.
Luca looked stunned.
"Olivia, why didn't you tell me?"
She stared at him.
Then she signed something that hurt him more than any accusation could have.
Because you never asked what Father told me.
Luca lowered his eyes.
Their father, Antonio Moretti, had died four years earlier.
He had been a feared man throughout Chicago, but Olivia remembered a different version of him.
The man who sat beside her every evening and practiced American Sign Language until his hands ached.
The man who insisted she attend the same schools and receive the same opportunities as her hearing brother.
And the man who had promised that her inheritance would always belong to her.
Olivia explained that shortly before his death, Antonio had given her a small brass key.
He told her it opened a cabinet at the community art studio he had helped establish near Lincoln Park.
Inside was an envelope.
He had instructed her not to open it until she turned thirty.
But after her birthday, Richard convinced her the cabinet contained outdated papers and discouraged her from visiting.
"Do you still have the key?" Luca asked.
Olivia nodded.
She reached beneath her dress and removed a delicate silver necklace.
Hanging beside a tiny heart-shaped pendant was the key.
I stared at it in amazement.
She had carried it with her every day.
Luca reached toward it, then stopped.
"May I see it?"
Olivia studied his face.
Finally, she placed the key in his palm.
For several seconds, he simply stared.
Then he returned it to her.
"Whatever it opens belongs to you."
I translated.
Her expression softened.
Outside, police vehicles were arriving.
Luca contacted Natalie Brooks, the independent attorney recommended by Evelyn.
Natalie advised him not to confront Hayes or move any financial documents until investigators could preserve the evidence.
She also explained that the family needed certified copies of Antonio's original trust agreement.
If the forged amendments were challenged, the original documents could become critical.
At dawn, Olivia decided we would visit her studio.
Not because Luca ordered it.
Because she wanted to.
Marcus arranged a secure vehicle, while Detective Ruiz sent an officer to accompany us.
Vanessa remained at the mansion under the watch of investigators responding to the fire.
When we arrived at the studio, the Chicago streets were still wet from the previous night's rain.
The building looked ordinary from the outside.
But inside, the walls were covered with paintings made by Deaf and hearing artists working together.
Olivia led us toward a small storage room.
She unlocked an old wooden cabinet beneath a framed photograph of her father.
Inside was a sealed metal document box.
Her hands trembled as she opened it.
We found a certified copy of the original trust, letters from Antonio, and records identifying Natalie Brooks as an independent attorney authorized to advise Olivia.
There was also a handwritten letter addressed to his daughter.
Olivia opened it slowly.
I watched her eyes move across the page.
Then tears rolled down her cheeks.
She handed the letter to Luca.
He read it aloud.
"My beautiful Olivia, the world will always contain people who mistake your silence for weakness."
"But you were never silent to me."
"You were the bravest voice in our family."
"If anyone ever tells you that you cannot decide your own future, remember that I trusted you with everything that mattered."
Luca stopped reading.
His voice had broken.
Olivia pressed the letter against her chest.
For a moment, nobody spoke.
Then she signed.
He believed in me.
I nodded through my tears.
"Yes, he did."
Natalie arrived shortly afterward and examined the papers.
Her expression became increasingly serious.
"The original trust makes Olivia the beneficiary of substantial property interests when she turns thirty."
"Nothing here supports Richard's claims that she needs a guardian merely because she's Deaf."
She turned another page.
"There's something else."
Attached to the trust was an account schedule detailing the charitable foundation created in Olivia's name.
Natalie compared it with recent financial statements Evelyn had brought.
Several large transfers appeared to have been made without Olivia's approval.
One recipient was a company called Westridge Holdings.
I recognized the name from Evelyn's documents.
Vanessa had used the same company on her financial disclosure forms.
"How much has been transferred?" Luca asked.
Natalie checked the figures.
"At least two million dollars may already be missing."
Olivia looked at her brother.
Then she signed something slowly.
This started before Vanessa became your fiancée.
Natalie nodded.
"Some withdrawals date back almost three years."
Luca went completely still.
Because three years earlier, he had been personally approving many of the family's business accounts.
Then Natalie found an older transaction.
It bore Luca's electronic authorization.
And the date was the morning after their father's funeral.
Olivia stared at her brother.
Her hands rose.
May you like
Luca, did you know?
For the first time since the dinner, he had no answer.
