Chapter 3 - THE LETTER WITH LUCA'S SIGNATURE|
I had never been inside Grace Hayes's apartment before that night.
It was on the second floor of an aging brick building on Chicago's Northwest Side.
The hallway smelled faintly of laundry detergent and old paint.
A small rubber welcome mat sat outside the door.
Beside it was a pair of muddy sneakers that clearly belonged to Ethan.
Luca had insisted that I come along.
"I need someone who saw what happened tonight," he'd told me.
Ethan sat beside him in the back of the car, carefully turning his father's watch around his wrist.
He hadn't said much during the drive.
Every few minutes, Luca looked at him as though trying to understand how three months could have passed without noticing that something was wrong.
Grace opened the apartment door wearing faded blue scrubs beneath a winter coat.
She was thirty-nine, with tired brown eyes and dark hair pulled into a loose ponytail.
When she saw Luca, she immediately stepped backward.
"I'm sorry the place is such a mess."
Luca looked around the spotless little living room.
"Grace, don't."
She lowered her eyes.
"I wasn't expecting company."
"I'm not company."
His voice shook.
"I'm Daniel's friend."
For a moment, she looked as if she might cry.
But instead, she moved aside and invited us in.
The apartment was small but warm.
A secondhand couch stood beneath a window overlooking the street.
Schoolbooks were stacked neatly on the coffee table.
On the wall hung a photograph of Daniel Hayes holding a younger Ethan on his shoulders.
Daniel was laughing in the picture.
Ethan had both arms wrapped around his father's forehead.
Luca stopped in front of it.
"That was at the lake."
Grace nodded.
"The summer before Daniel died."
"He dropped Ethan's baseball in the water."
Grace gave a tiny, sad smile.
"And went in after it with his shoes on."
For a few seconds, the three of them shared a memory that Vanessa could never have understood.
Then Grace opened a drawer beneath the television.
She removed a white envelope and handed it to Luca.
"I kept everything."
Luca unfolded the letter.
I watched his expression change as he read.
The document had been printed on stationery bearing the Moretti family business emblem.
It was dated exactly three months earlier.
The first paragraph explained that Luca's upcoming marriage required him to reconsider his personal commitments.
The second stated that Sunday visits were no longer appropriate.
The third announced that discretionary financial assistance would cease immediately.
At the bottom sat a signature that looked disturbingly similar to Luca's own.
He read the letter twice.
Then he handed it to me.
"Natalie, have you ever seen this?"
I examined the page.
The wording was formal and cold.
It sounded nothing like the man who had knelt beside Ethan at the restaurant.
"No, sir."
Grace folded her arms tightly.
"Vanessa called the next morning to make sure I'd received it."
Luca looked up.
"What exactly did she say?"
"She said it would be easier on everyone if we accepted the situation gracefully."
Grace swallowed.
"She told me not to make Ethan feel entitled to your time."
Ethan sat down on the couch.
His eyes were fixed on the carpet.
Luca noticed.
"Buddy, none of this is your responsibility."
The boy nodded without looking up.
Grace continued quietly.
"I tried calling your office twice."
"Who answered?"
"Patrick."
I recognized the name immediately.
Patrick Vale had worked as Luca's executive assistant for years.
He managed appointments, correspondence, and financial paperwork for several family businesses.
Grace wiped her hands against her coat.
"He said your decision was final."
Luca went completely still.
"Patrick told you that?"
"Yes."
"And you never spoke to me directly?"
Grace shook her head.
"I didn't want to beg someone to love my son."
Those words seemed to hurt Luca more than the letter itself.
He slowly sat opposite her.
"Grace, look at me."
She hesitated.
"I didn't know any of this."
Her eyes filled.
"Then why didn't you call Ethan?"
Luca lowered his head.
"Because I made a terrible assumption."
He glanced toward the boy.
"I thought he was getting older and wanted more time with friends."
Grace spoke gently but firmly.
"You could have asked."
"I know."
He didn't defend himself.
He didn't mention business meetings or travel schedules.
He simply sat there and accepted that she was right.
I admired him for that.
But I also knew an apology couldn't give Ethan back the last three months.
It couldn't erase the nights he'd waited for a phone call.
And it couldn't undo Grace's humiliation at being told that her little family had become an inconvenience.
Then Luca asked about the missing money.
Grace moved to the kitchen counter and returned with a folder of bank statements.
"Daniel didn't leave much behind," she explained.
"His life insurance helped us for a while."
"But you set up that education account after the funeral."
Luca nodded.
"Every month, money was supposed to be transferred into the account for Ethan's future."
Grace placed three statements on the table.
"The transfers stopped in August."
Luca studied them.
"Did anyone explain why?"
"Vanessa said you'd decided it was time for me to support Ethan without help."
Grace looked embarrassed.
"I didn't argue."
"Why not?"
"Because I thought accepting your money was the reason you didn't want us around anymore."
Ethan finally looked up.
"Mom sold her wedding ring."
Grace's face changed.
"Ethan."
He continued anyway.
"She said it was just jewelry."
His voice broke.
"But I heard her crying in the bathroom."
Luca stared at Grace's empty left hand.
Then he looked toward Daniel's photograph.
I could see him trying to contain an emotion too large for words.
"Grace, whatever happened to those transfers, I will find out."
She shook her head.
"I don't want money that comes with conditions."
"It won't."
"And I don't want Ethan to feel like a burden."
"He isn't."
Luca leaned forward.
"But I understand why you don't trust my promises tonight."
Before Grace could answer, Ethan reached into his schoolbag.
He removed another folded paper.
"I found this in Mom's folder."
Grace turned sharply.
"Ethan, where did you get that?"
He held it toward Luca.
"It has Dad's name on it."
Luca unfolded the document.
I saw his jaw tighten.
At the top were the words HAYES FAMILY EDUCATION FUND.
Below them was a notice authorizing the closure of the account.
And at the bottom was another signature.
This one claimed that Grace herself had requested the termination.
Grace stared at it in disbelief.
"I never signed that."
Luca looked from the document to the forged letter in his hand.
Then he whispered something that made the room suddenly feel cold.
"Someone didn't just cut off the payments."
May you like
He looked toward me.
"Someone created paperwork to make it look as though Grace asked us to stop."
