Chapter 4 - THE REPORT I NEVER SIGNED
“What medical report?”
My voice was so quiet that Vincent leaned closer.
Sophia stood beside the hospital bed, holding the edge of her cardigan.
“The report from your prenatal appointment.”
I shook my head.
“My doctor never told me I couldn't fly.”
Sophia looked at Vincent.
“Then why did your office send me a copy?”
Vincent's expression darkened.
“My office sent you Anna's medical information?”
She nodded.
“Two days before the flight.”
“Show me.”
Sophia searched her handbag.
After several nervous seconds, she removed a folded sheet.
Vincent took it.
I watched his eyes move across the page.
Then he handed it to me.
My name appeared at the top.
Anna Bennett Moretti.
Below it was a warning about pregnancy complications and restrictions on air travel.
At the bottom was a signature.
Mine.
Except I had never signed it.
“That isn't my handwriting,” I whispered.
Vincent leaned over the page.
“Are you sure?”
I looked at him.
He immediately regretted the question.
“Of course I'm sure.”
Sophia covered her mouth.
“I thought you knew.”
“Then why didn't you say anything?”
“Because Vincent told me not to interfere in your medical decisions.”
I turned toward him.
He looked genuinely confused.
“I never said that.”
Sophia stared at him.
“Yes, you did. At dinner last Thursday.”
Vincent shook his head.
“Last Thursday I was in Boston.”
She went pale.
I remembered that evening.
Vincent had called me from a hotel.
He'd complained about a delayed board meeting.
Sophia had supposedly been visiting her sick mother.
Something wasn't right.
“Who told you he said that?” I asked.
Sophia looked down.
“His chief of staff.”
“Richard Hale?” Vincent asked.
She nodded.
Vincent stood so abruptly his chair scraped the floor.
Richard Hale had worked for Moretti Holdings for almost twenty years.
He handled travel, security arrangements, executive correspondence, and sometimes personal matters.
Vincent trusted him more than anyone.
“Why would Richard send Sophia my medical information?” I asked.
Vincent didn't answer.
Sophia finally spoke.
“He told me the flight could be dangerous for the baby.”
“Then why did you board?” I demanded.
She wiped her eyes.
“Because he said the aircraft had been modified to make it safe.”
I stared at her.
“And the maintenance compartment?”
Sophia hesitated.
“He gave me a tag and asked me to check whether a blue indicator light was showing.”
Daniel's warning echoed in my mind.
Someone had opened the electrical compartment.
“What did you touch?”
“Nothing. I opened the panel, looked inside, and closed it.”
“Was the light on?”
Sophia shook her head.
“No.”
“Did you tell anyone?”
“Richard. He said it was normal.”
Vincent took the paper from me.
“I'm calling an independent investigator.”
Sophia looked frightened.
“Vincent, you don't think Richard caused the accident?”
“I don't know what to think.”
He walked into the hallway.
For the first time since our emergency landing, I looked at Sophia without seeing only the woman he'd chosen over me.
She seemed genuinely afraid.
But I wasn't ready to forgive her.
“Did you ever consider how humiliating this was for me?” I asked.
Her face crumpled.
“Yes.”
“Then why did you keep accepting his attention?”
Sophia sat down slowly.
“Because when my mother got sick, everyone disappeared. Vincent didn't.”
“That doesn't mean you had to take my place.”
She nodded.
“I know.”
For a moment, neither of us spoke.
Then she said something unexpected.
“I didn't ask him to carry me out, Anna.”
I looked up.
“He said you were hurt.”
“I was. But I could walk.”
My fingers tightened around the blanket.
“What?”
“I told him to help you first.”
I stared at her.
“He wouldn't listen.”
The revelation hurt more than I'd expected.
Because it meant Vincent hadn't merely responded to Sophia's fear.
He had made a deliberate decision.
And he had ignored an opportunity to change it.
That evening, Daniel returned with an update.
The aircraft had been moved to a secured hangar.
Investigators had discovered that a protective cover on an electrical connection was loose.
It could explain the smoke.
However, determining why it was loose would take time.
“Could someone have opened it accidentally?” I asked.
“Possibly,” Daniel said. “But the panel had been inspected before departure.”
Vincent stood near the window.
“Who signed off on that inspection?”
Daniel checked his notebook.
“That's another problem.”
“What problem?” Vincent demanded.
Daniel looked at me.
“The original inspection record has been replaced.”
Vincent's jaw tightened.
“Replaced by whom?”
Daniel placed a photograph on the bed.
It showed a maintenance checklist.
Near the bottom was an electronic approval code.
Vincent recognized it immediately.
I saw his face change.
“Richard,” he whispered.
Daniel shook his head.
“No, Mr. Moretti.”
May you like
He pointed at the code.
“That's your personal authorization.”
