Chapter 5 - THE WOMAN WHO KEPT HIS FATHER'S COAT
“Aunt Teresa?”
Luca looked as though someone had struck him.
“She wouldn't do this.”
I wanted to believe him.
Teresa Varenna was sixty-two, elegant, soft-spoken, and one of the few people who could tell Luca he was being stubborn without frightening the entire household.
She'd sat beside me during my wedding reception.
She'd told me Luca had always been kinder than his reputation.
And she'd cried when we exchanged vows.
“Then ask her,” I said.
Luca stared at the clinic access record.
“That's exactly what I'm going to do.”
An hour later, Teresa arrived at the mansion.
She wore a navy-blue coat and carried the same worn leather handbag I'd seen at our wedding.
When she noticed Luca's expression, she stopped smiling.
“What's happened?”
He placed the record on the table.
“Why did you access Evelyn's medical information?”
Teresa looked down.
For several seconds, she didn't answer.
Then she sat.
“Because I was afraid Matteo had already accessed it.”
Luca frowned.
“What?”
“An administrator at the clinic used to work for the family medical foundation. I knew Matteo had been asking questions about your marriage.”
“So you decided to look at my wife's records?”
“I checked the access history. I didn't read her examination notes.”
I folded my arms.
“Without asking me?”
Teresa turned toward me.
“You're right, Evelyn. I should have asked. I was wrong.”
It wasn't the answer I'd expected.
Luca remained standing.
“How long have you known Matteo was interfering?”
Teresa's eyes filled.
“Longer than I should have allowed.”
The room went silent.
She reached into her handbag and removed an old photograph.
It showed Luca at twenty-three.
He was sitting in a hospital wheelchair, thinner and paler than I'd ever seen him.
Beside him stood his father, Antonio.
Antonio had one hand resting on his son's shoulder.
And behind them stood Matteo.
Smiling.
Teresa placed the photograph on the table.
“Your father took this two days before you came home.”
Luca stared at it.
“I remember.”
“Do you remember what he told you?”
Luca swallowed.
“He said I was going to live a long life.”
Teresa nodded.
“And he meant it.”
She opened her handbag again.
This time, she removed a folded medical summary.
“Your father didn't believe Dr. Hale's diagnosis.”
Luca went completely still.
“What?”
“He thought it was too soon to declare anything permanent. He arranged another consultation.”
“Why didn't he tell me?”
“He intended to.”
Teresa's voice trembled.
“Then Matteo intervened.”
Luca leaned forward.
“Explain.”
Teresa clasped her hands.
“Your father had already spent months trying to straighten out the North Harbor shipping accounts. There were safety expenses nobody could explain. Insurance payments. Missing maintenance records.”
I looked at Luca.
The crane accident.
The medical diagnosis.
The family trust.
Everything seemed to lead back to the same period.
“Matteo told Antonio that reopening questions about the accident would destroy the company,” Teresa continued.
“He claimed contractors would lose their jobs, workers would lose their pensions, and the banks would demand immediate repayment.”
“And my medical results?” Luca asked.
“He said additional testing was dangerous while you were still recovering.”
Luca gave a bitter laugh.
“Dangerous?”
“Your father was frightened, Luca. He had almost lost you.”
Teresa wiped her eyes.
“Matteo used that fear.”
For a moment, nobody spoke.
Then Luca asked:
“Did you believe him?”
Teresa looked down.
“At first.”
“And afterward?”
She hesitated.
“When Antonio began asking more questions, Matteo warned me that a public dispute would tear the family apart.”
Luca's voice sharpened.
“So you stayed quiet.”
“Yes.”
“Twelve years?”
“Luca—”
“Twelve years, Aunt Teresa.”
His voice cracked.
“Do you have any idea what it does to a man to believe he can never hold his own child?”
Teresa began crying.
“I know I failed you.”
He turned away.
I could see how badly he wanted to shout.
But he didn't.
Instead, he placed both hands against the mantelpiece.
“Where is my father's second opinion?”
Teresa hesitated.
“There's something I brought you.”
She opened her handbag one final time.
Inside was a small bundle wrapped in faded blue cloth.
She unfolded it.
A brass key fell onto the table.
And beneath it lay a piece of dark wool.
Luca looked confused.
“What is that?”
“A piece of your father's old winter coat. The lining was torn. He used to keep papers in the inside pocket.”
“Where's the coat?”
“In the storage room at my house.”
Teresa swallowed.
“I kept it after he died.”
“Why?”
“Because he asked me not to throw it away.”
She looked at Luca.
“Antonio had begun collecting information about your accident. Before he died, he told me there was something inside that coat he wanted you to see.”
Luca stared at her.
“And you never gave it to me?”
“I was afraid of what you'd do.”
He shook his head slowly.
“You should have trusted me.”
“I know.”
Teresa wiped her cheeks.
Then she handed him the folded medical summary.
It came from a specialist named Dr. Miriam Sloane.
The conclusion was cautious.
Available medical findings do not establish permanent infertility. Further evaluation is recommended after recovery.
Luca read it twice.
Then he looked up.
“My father knew there was a chance.”
Teresa nodded.
“Yes.”
“But somebody made sure I never heard about it.”
She closed her eyes.
“There's more.”
At the bottom of the document was a request for a follow-up appointment.
The patient's name was Luca Varenna.
The appointment had been canceled.
Beside the cancellation was a signature.
Luca's.
May you like
Except Luca was staring at it with horror.
“Evelyn,” he whispered, “I never signed this.”
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