Chapter 7 - The Woman Behind the Diamonds|
That evening, Luca ordered Vanessa to remain in her private suite while Naomi contacted the authorities.
He did not touch her.
He did not shout.
Somehow, his restraint frightened her more than his anger.
I stood near the office doorway when Vanessa demanded another conversation with him.
"You're humiliating me in front of the servants," she snapped.
Luca looked up from the documents on his desk.
"You tried to have Claire arrested."
"Because I thought she was stealing."
"You planted your own bracelet in her bedroom."
Vanessa crossed her arms.
"Peter misunderstood my instructions."
"Peter has already admitted you paid him."
Her face tightened.
Luca placed the security photographs on the desk.
"And you used him to disable the office alarm."
Vanessa looked away.
For a moment, she seemed smaller than the elegant woman who had dominated the mansion since her wedding.
Then she began crying.
At first, I almost felt sorry for her.
Her shoulders shook, and her voice became fragile.
"You don't understand what my father is capable of."
Luca remained silent.
Vanessa wiped her cheeks.
"Carlo has been pressuring me for months."
"About Hawthorne Court?"
She nodded.
"He said your father stole those buildings from our family."
"Your father helped steal them from the people who lived there."
Vanessa looked up sharply.
"That's not what he told me."
"Then he lied."
She walked toward the window.
"Do you know what it was like growing up as Carlo Bellini's daughter?"
Luca didn't answer.
"Everything had a price."
She looked back at him.
"Every gift, every favor, every smile."
Her voice cracked.
"When I wanted to study art, he told me I was wasting my future."
"When I wanted to leave Chicago, he froze my accounts."
"When I refused to marry a man he selected, he threatened to cut me off completely."
I watched her carefully.
For the first time, I saw a glimpse of the frightened woman beneath the diamonds.
But then I remembered Rex lying helpless in the rain.
Luca seemed to remember too.
"Did your father tell you to chain Rex outside?"
Vanessa went silent.
"Answer me."
She swallowed.
"Rex wouldn't stop barking at Julian."
"Because Julian was stealing from my father's office."
"He was only supposed to collect some documents."
"You knew the dog would stop him."
Vanessa stared at the floor.
"Yes."
The admission hung in the air.
Luca's face hardened.
"Then you restrained him."
"I didn't think the weather would get so bad."
I couldn't remain silent.
"You locked every garden door."
Vanessa turned toward me.
"Nobody asked you to speak."
I took a step forward.
"I heard Rex crying when I found him."
My voice trembled.
"He was scratching the wood because he wanted to come home."
Vanessa's eyes narrowed.
"Claire, stay out of this."
But I couldn't.
"For six hours, he thought someone would open the door."
I felt tears burning my eyes.
"You could hear him from the kitchen corridor."
Vanessa looked away.
Luca slowly stood.
"Did you hear him?"
She hesitated.
"Vanessa."
"Yes."
The room became utterly silent.
Luca looked as though she had struck him.
"You heard my dog crying?"
Her lips trembled.
"I was trying to finish what my father asked me to do."
Luca walked around the desk.
"He saved my life twice."
"I know."
"He stayed beside my father's bed when he was dying."
"I know, Luca."
"He trusts everyone in this house because I taught him it was his home."
Vanessa began crying harder.
"I said I was sorry."
Luca shook his head.
"You're sorry because someone caught you."
She looked wounded.
"That's unfair."
"Unfair?"
His voice rose for the first time.
"You left a living creature chained in a storm, tried to frame an innocent woman, and helped a stranger steal my father's property."
Vanessa stepped backward.
"Carlo said the documents belonged to us."
"Then let him prove that in court."
Her eyes widened.
"You can't take him to court."
"Watch me."
She suddenly grabbed his arm.
"Luca, please."
He looked down at her hand.
"My father will destroy you."
Luca gently removed her fingers.
"He can try."
Vanessa's expression changed again.
The tears disappeared.
Something colder took their place.
"You think your father was a saint."
Luca stood still.
"You have no idea what Salvatore did to keep this family powerful."
He nodded slowly.
"I'm beginning to find out."
"Then perhaps you should stop searching."
Luca looked toward the notebook lying on his desk.
"No."
Vanessa stared at him.
Then she whispered something that chilled me.
"Adrian Voss has records your father never wanted anyone to see."
"What records?"
"Payments."
She swallowed.
"Orders."
Luca waited.
Vanessa lowered her voice.
"And the truth about what happened to those families before Hawthorne Court existed."
I watched Luca's expression darken.
For years, he had treated his father's memory as something sacred.
Now the truth threatened to destroy everything he believed about the man who had raised him.
But he didn't step away.
"Then I'll read those records too."
Vanessa shook her head.
"You'll ruin the Moretti name."
Luca looked at her.
"If my family hurt innocent people, the name deserves to be questioned."
For a moment, nobody spoke.
Then Marco entered.
"Boss, there's a call for you."
"From whom?"
Marco hesitated.
"Julian Mercer."
Luca took the phone.
He put it on speaker.
A frightened man's voice filled the room.
"Mr. Moretti, I know you want to find me."
Luca's eyes narrowed.
"You have my father's box."
"Yes."
"Then return it."
Mercer gave a bitter laugh.
"I wish it were that simple."
"Where are you?"
"Somewhere your wife's father hasn't found me yet."
Vanessa's face turned pale.
Luca glanced at her.
"Why are you calling?"
Mercer lowered his voice.
"Because I finally opened the box."
Luca went still.
Mercer continued.
"And now I understand why Salvatore Moretti told you never to touch it."
The line crackled.
May you like
Then he whispered something that made Vanessa grip the back of a chair.
"That box contains proof your father tried to stop a crime Carlo Bellini has been hiding for almost twenty years."
