Chapter 7 - THE SIGNATURE SHE COULD NEVER FORGET
“Who signed it, Mom?”
Luca crouched beside Evelyn's wheelchair.
Her hands were shaking, but her eyes were clear.
“Victor.”
Vanessa gripped the back of her chair.
“My father?”
Evelyn nodded.
“He was there with Anthony and Daniel Rourke. They had papers spread across a wooden desk.”
Michael leaned forward.
“What papers?”
“I didn't know then. Anthony told me they were shipping contracts.”
She looked at Luca.
“But I remember the signatures.”
Luca waited.
“Anthony signed first. Victor signed second.”
“And Rourke?”
Evelyn closed her eyes.
“He put a photograph of Michael on the desk.”
The room went silent.
I watched Michael's face change.
He wasn't six anymore.
He was a grown man with gray at his temples.
But for one moment, I could see the child still waiting for someone to come get him.
Evelyn continued.
“Rourke said if Anthony didn't keep his promise, he would never see Michael again.”
Luca's jaw tightened.
“And Victor agreed?”
Evelyn nodded.
“He told Anthony to sign.”
Vanessa slowly sat down.
I could see she was struggling to reconcile the father she'd loved with the man Evelyn remembered.
“Why would he do that?”
Evelyn looked at her.
“Because he was afraid of losing money.”
Vanessa shook her head.
“No. There had to be something else.”
Luca studied her.
“You can love your father and still accept what he did.”
Her eyes filled.
“I know.”
Michael stood.
“I want to see the original agreement.”
Luca nodded.
“So do I.”
The next morning, we went to the old Bellini warehouse.
Victor had agreed to meet us after Luca threatened to suspend every Moretti contract involving Bellini-owned transportation companies.
He was waiting in a second-floor office overlooking the river.
A framed photograph of his late wife sat on the desk.
Vanessa noticed it immediately.
“Mom's picture used to be downstairs.”
Victor looked toward her.
“I moved it after the renovation.”
She touched the frame.
“She hated this building.”
Victor's expression softened.
“She hated what it made me become.”
For a moment, nobody spoke.
Then Luca placed the photograph of Daniel Mercer on the desk.
“Tell us about him.”
Victor stared at it.
“He approached me eight months ago.”
“What did he want?”
“The waterfront properties.”
Michael leaned forward.
“And you agreed to help him get them?”
Victor shook his head.
“I agreed to discuss a purchase.”
Vanessa took out the preliminary agreement.
“Dad, you signed this.”
Victor looked at it.
“Yes.”
“Without telling Luca?”
“I believed the transaction would protect the family businesses.”
Luca gave a humorless smile.
“Which family?”
Victor didn't answer.
Michael stepped forward.
“Did you know who I was when Daniel contacted you?”
Victor nodded.
“Yes.”
“Then why didn't you tell my mother?”
Victor looked toward Evelyn.
“Because I was afraid.”
“Of me?”
“Of what you could prove.”
The honesty surprised everyone.
Victor sat down.
“Thirty years ago, I helped arrange a transfer of assets that should never have happened. Rourke threatened to expose us. Anthony panicked.”
Luca stared.
“And Michael paid for it.”
Victor's voice cracked.
“Yes.”
Vanessa covered her mouth.
“Dad.”
He looked at her.
“I told myself I could fix it later. I spent thirty years telling myself that.”
Evelyn's expression was cold.
“You could have told me where my son was.”
Victor lowered his head.
“I should have.”
Michael took a step closer.
“Then show me the agreement.”
Victor opened a locked cabinet.
Inside were several binders.
He removed a blue folder and placed it on the desk.
But when he opened it, the pages were gone.
Only the cover remained.
Victor stared.
“No.”
Luca leaned forward.
“What happened?”
“Daniel.”
Victor looked toward the window.
“He was here yesterday.”
Vanessa's face changed.
“You gave him access?”
“He told me he was bringing revised investment terms.”
Michael shook his head.
“He took the original.”
Luca looked at Victor.
“You let the same thing happen again.”
Victor closed the empty folder.
For the first time, he seemed old.
“I know.”
Then Evelyn spoke.
“Anthony made a copy.”
Everyone turned.
She looked at me.
“Claire, the portrait.”
I frowned.
“The portrait?”
“He painted flowers on the frame. He used to hide things in the little spaces behind them.”
Luca looked startled.
“We already found the photograph.”
Evelyn nodded.
“But the frame has four corners.”
I suddenly remembered something.
When we'd moved the portrait during the engagement dinner, one corner had felt slightly loose.
A gold leaf had fallen onto the tablecloth.
“Mr. Moretti,” I said, “I think there's another compartment.”
Luca immediately called Margaret.
The portrait was still secured in the mansion's private gallery.
We returned that afternoon.
Vanessa helped Evelyn into the room.
Michael stood beside Luca as they examined the frame.
I pointed toward the lower-left corner.
“There.”
Luca gently loosened the wooden backing.
A narrow metal tube slid free.
Inside was a tightly rolled copy of the original agreement.
And something else.
A handwritten note from Anthony.
Luca read it silently.
Then handed it to Michael.
Michael's face changed.
“What?” Evelyn asked.
He looked at her.
“Dad wrote that Victor wasn't the person who ordered the kidnapping.”
Vanessa turned sharply.
“What?”
Michael continued reading.
“Victor signed the agreement after Michael was already taken. He thought signing would secure his release.”
Evelyn stared.
“Then why did he tell Anthony to sign?”
Luca took the note.
“Because Rourke told him Michael would be killed if they refused.”
Vanessa covered her face.
Her father had betrayed the family.
But the story was more complicated than she'd believed.
Luca continued.
“Anthony wrote that Victor spent years trying to recover Michael.”
Michael shook his head.
“He never came for me.”
“According to this, he tried.”
Michael looked away.
Then Luca reached the final paragraph.
His expression changed.
“There's something else.”
He stared at the page.
“Dad wrote that the original agreement was witnessed by a fourth man.”
Vanessa leaned closer.
“Who?”
Luca swallowed.
“The man who controlled Rourke's accounts.”
Michael frowned.
“Who was that?”
May you like
Luca looked up.
“Daniel Mercer's father.”
