Chapter 5 - The Secret Hidden in My Mother's Necklace|
I had spent fifteen years believing my mother had left me nothing except a broken necklace and a handful of memories.
Now I stood inside Dante DeLuca's mansion, staring at a number that connected her to a woman she had never met.
Seventeen dash four.
The same four marks I had noticed beneath the clasp of my mother's locket.
I looked at Dante.
"There's something I need to show you."
We went downstairs to his office.
Gabriel remained outside with the torn envelope, arranging for it to be documented and preserved.
I retrieved my overnight bag and carefully opened the stitched pocket where I had hidden the necklace.
Dante watched silently as I placed the damaged locket on his desk.
"My mother wore this every day."
"Lucia Moretti?"
I nodded.
"She died when I was twelve."
"I thought the fire happened fifteen years ago."
"It did."
He looked at me.
"Then you were twelve?"
"Eleven when it happened, twelve before anyone finished deciding where I belonged."
I hadn't meant to sound bitter.
But the words came out anyway.
Dante lowered his eyes.
"I'm sorry."
I didn't answer.
Apologies had always seemed cheap when offered by people who hadn't been there.
Instead, I showed him the markings.
Under the dented silver backing, someone had engraved a small number.
17-4.
Dante stared at it.
"That cannot be a coincidence."
"That's what I'm thinking."
He opened his laptop and began searching through company records.
"The DeLuca Foundation funded a waterfront redevelopment initiative fifteen years ago."
"Why does that matter?"
"Because my uncle Salvatore managed the finances."
The name made my skin tighten.
Salvatore.
The same uncle who had appointed Valentina to care for Nico.
Dante continued searching.
"The project was called Harbor Renewal."
He stopped typing.
Then he turned the screen toward me.
A scanned document appeared.
At the bottom was an accountant's signature.
Lucia Moretti.
My mother.
I stared at the screen.
"She worked for your family?"
"Not directly."
Dante enlarged the signature.
"She was an independent auditor hired through a consulting firm."
I felt suddenly cold.
"Nobody told me."
"Did your father know?"
I almost laughed.
"My father knew everything about my mother except how to love her."
Dante leaned back.
For the first time since meeting him, he looked genuinely unsettled.
"My uncle assured me Harbor Renewal was a success."
"What happened to it?"
"The original housing project was never completed."
He opened another file.
"Most of the land was sold to private development companies."
"Companies owned by whom?"
Dante hesitated.
"One was controlled by your father."
The office seemed to tilt.
I gripped the edge of the desk.
"My father was involved?"
"According to these records."
I thought of Vittorio Moretti sitting behind his enormous desk, telling me that my marriage would benefit both families.
I thought of Bianca smashing my necklace.
And suddenly, the arrangement that had brought me into this house no longer felt like an inconvenient family bargain.
It felt like a carefully placed trap.
A knock interrupted us.
Rosa entered carrying coffee.
When she saw the necklace, her face turned white.
"Where did you get that?"
I looked up.
"It belonged to my mother."
Rosa slowly set the tray down.
"I remember her."
My heart lurched.
"What?"
"Lucia Moretti came to this house once."
"When?"
"Years ago, before Mr. Dante inherited the company."
Rosa looked toward the door.
"She argued with Mr. Salvatore."
Dante stood.
"What kind of argument?"
"I couldn't hear everything."
Rosa clasped her hands.
"But I remember one sentence because she said it so loudly."
I barely dared to breathe.
"What sentence?"
Rosa looked at me.
"She said, 'You can bury the paperwork, but you cannot bury what happened to those families.'"
My throat tightened.
Those families.
People who had been promised homes.
People who may have lost everything.
My mother hadn't simply been investigating financial fraud.
She had been fighting for people nobody powerful wanted to hear.
Dante reached for his phone.
"I want a complete independent audit of Harbor Renewal."
Then he looked at Rosa.
"And don't tell anyone what we've found."
Rosa nodded and left.
I sat down slowly.
"Why would your uncle connect us through this marriage?"
Dante's expression darkened.
"I don't know."
"Did he choose me?"
"He recommended your father's proposal."
I felt a chill move down my spine.
"Then we need to find out what he wanted."
Before Dante could respond, my phone rang.
My father's name appeared on the screen.
I answered without greeting him.
"Alessia."
His voice sounded unusually cheerful.
"I hear your husband has returned."
"He's not my husband yet."
A brief silence followed.
"Don't be difficult."
"What do you want, Father?"
"I'd like you to bring your mother's necklace home tomorrow."
My eyes moved toward Dante.
"Why?"
"Because it belongs with the family."
"It belongs to me."
His voice hardened.
"That necklace contains something you don't understand."
I went completely still.
May you like
Then he said six words that confirmed my worst suspicion.
"Your mother died protecting the wrong secret."
