Chapter 2 - THE WOMAN HIS DEAD WIFE HAD WARNED HIM ABOUT
“The person who helped your sister cover up what happened to your wife,” the attorney said, “was Vanessa Whitmore.”
Vincent Moretti stopped breathing for a moment.
Across his study, eight-year-old Oliver sat on Rachel Bennett’s lap, holding the teddy bear his mother had given him before she died.
Vanessa.
The woman Vincent intended to marry.
The woman currently entertaining seventy guests beneath the chandeliers downstairs.
“That’s impossible,” Vincent said.
“Mr. Moretti, your wife specifically identified her.”
“Vanessa didn't know Laura.”
A long silence followed.
Then attorney Margaret Hayes answered.
“She did. She knew your wife long before she met you.”
Vincent gripped the telephone.
Margaret had represented Laura Moretti for nearly ten years. She was careful, respected, and never made accusations without evidence.
“Where are you?” Vincent demanded.
“At my office in downtown Chicago. I have Laura's recorded statement, her original instructions, and several documents she placed in my custody.”
“Bring them here.”
“I think you should come to me. There are things your sister has spent two years making sure you never see.”
Vincent glanced at Oliver.
The boy was rubbing his mother's teddy bear against his cheek.
“Daddy?” Oliver whispered.
Vincent knelt beside him.
“I'm right here, buddy.”
“Are you going away again?”
The question hurt more than Vincent expected.
For three weeks, his son had believed he was being ignored.
For two years, Vincent had told himself that providing a beautiful house, excellent schools, and financial security made him a good father.
Now he understood how little those things meant to a frightened child.
“Not tonight,” he promised. “I'm staying with you.”
He turned toward Rachel.
“Would you take Oliver to his room? Stay with him until I come upstairs.”
“Of course, sir.”
Oliver held onto Vincent's sleeve.
“Can we read the dinosaur book?”
Vincent managed a small smile.
“Every page.”
After they left, Vincent called his security chief, James Mercer.
“Make sure nobody removes anything from the house. Phones, computers, paperwork. Especially anything belonging to Vanessa or Caroline.”
James hesitated.
“Sir, your sister is downstairs.”
“I know exactly where she is.”
Vincent ended the call.
Then he walked into his engagement dinner.
Vanessa stood beside the fireplace in a champagne-colored gown, laughing with Caroline Moretti.
His younger sister looked elegant in navy silk.
The two women had always seemed close.
Vincent had once considered that reassuring.
Now he wondered how long they had been keeping secrets together.
“Vincent!” Vanessa exclaimed. “Finally. Everyone's waiting for your toast.”
She slipped her arm through his.
He gently removed it.
“Did you know Laura?”
Vanessa's smile faded.
“What?”
“My wife. Before she died. Did you know her?”
Caroline's wineglass stopped halfway to her lips.
Vanessa recovered quickly.
“Sweetheart, this isn't the time.”
“Answer me.”
“I might have met her at some charity event. Chicago isn't that big.”
“You told me you'd never met her.”
“Because I barely knew her.”
Vincent looked at Caroline.
“And you?”
His sister placed her glass down.
“Vincent, you're upsetting Vanessa.”
“Good. Then perhaps one of you will tell me the truth.”
The nearest guests began falling silent.
Vanessa lowered her voice.
“Whatever Rachel has told you, she's manipulating your son. I've warned you about that woman.”
“Rachel showed me thirty-two messages Oliver sent me.”
Vanessa stiffened.
“You've been busy. I was protecting your time.”
“You deleted my son's voice messages.”
“I was trying to help!”
Vincent looked at the woman he had almost married.
“Oliver asked me to come home because he missed his mother. You heard him crying, and you erased it.”
Vanessa's eyes glistened.
“You've spent months telling me you couldn't concentrate because everyone needed something from you. I thought—”
“You thought my son was something I didn't need?”
She opened her mouth.
Nothing came out.
Vincent turned toward the guests.
“I'm sorry to interrupt your evening. There won't be an engagement announcement tonight.”
A shocked murmur crossed the room.
“Vincent!” Vanessa whispered.
He continued.
“The dinner is over. My staff will arrange transportation for anyone who needs it.”
Caroline caught his arm as people began rising.
“You cannot humiliate her like this.”
Vincent looked down at his sister's hand.
“Did Vanessa know Laura?”
Caroline slowly released him.
“It's complicated.”
“Then simplify it.”
Vanessa stepped between them.
“Caroline, don't.”
That was enough.
Vincent walked away without another word.
He had barely reached the staircase when Caroline followed.
“Vincent, please.”
He turned.
She looked genuinely frightened.
“Whatever Margaret Hayes has told you, she doesn't understand what happened.”
Vincent went still.
He hadn't mentioned Margaret.
“How do you know I spoke to Laura's attorney?”
Caroline's face lost its color.
Vanessa appeared behind her.
“Because Margaret has been making trouble for years,” Vanessa said.
“Then you know about Laura's statement.”
Caroline closed her eyes.
Vincent took a step closer.
“My wife trusted you. You were her sister-in-law. You helped arrange her funeral. You stood beside me while I buried her.”
Tears gathered in Caroline's eyes.
“I loved Laura.”
“Then tell me why she was afraid to leave Oliver alone with you.”
Caroline looked toward the upstairs hallway.
“Not here.”
“I'm finished protecting secrets.”
“You think you know what happened that night,” Caroline whispered. “You don't.”
Vincent felt something cold settle in his chest.
Laura had been rushed to the hospital after what Caroline described as a terrible fall at the family's Lake Michigan cottage.
Doctors had fought to save her.
Four days later, Vincent had lost his wife.
He had spent two years blaming himself for being away on business when she was hurt.
“What happened?” he asked.
Caroline began trembling.
Vanessa grabbed her wrist.
“Don't say another word.”
Vincent looked between them.
Then he noticed something hanging around Vanessa's neck.
A small silver crescent moon.
He recognized it.
Laura had owned a silver charm bracelet. Oliver used to play with its little moon and star charms when he was a toddler.
After her death, the bracelet had disappeared.
“Where did you get that necklace?” Vincent asked.
Vanessa instinctively covered the pendant.
“My mother gave it to me.”
“Take it off.”
“Excuse me?”
“Take it off.”
Caroline suddenly stepped forward.
“Vincent, stop. Please. You're frightening her.”
Vincent ignored Vanessa and studied his sister.
“You know where that came from.”
Caroline's expression told him she did.
Before anyone could speak, James approached from the far end of the hallway.
“Sir, Margaret Hayes has sent over a photograph from Laura's files. You need to see this.”
He handed Vincent a tablet.
The photograph showed Laura standing outside a children's charity fundraiser three years earlier.
Beside her stood Caroline.
And Vanessa.
All three women were smiling.
Vanessa was wearing the same silver moon pendant.
Vincent slowly raised his eyes.
“You didn't just know my wife. You were friends.”
Vanessa's composure cracked.
“Laura was never my friend.”
Caroline made a strangled sound.
“Vanessa, please.”
Vincent turned toward his sister.
“What aren't you telling me?”
Caroline pressed her hands against her face.
Then she said the words that changed everything.
“Vincent, Laura wasn't alone when she was hurt that night.”
His heart pounded.
“Who was with her?”
Caroline looked toward Oliver's bedroom.
“Your son.”
May you like
Vincent stared at her.
“He was six years old,” she whispered. “And he was sitting in the back seat of the car when Laura was injured.”
