Chapter 5 - THE WOMAN WHO SIGNED AFTER HER DEATH
“My mother was dead.”
I stared at the signature.
“Eight years, Emily. She'd been dead eight years when Jack was born.”
Emily looked as stunned as I felt.
Matteo had joined us at the cottage after Daniel confirmed the property was secure.
Now he stood beside the kitchen table, examining the discharge slip.
“That's Mom's handwriting,” he said.
I looked at him sharply.
“You recognize it?”
He nodded.
“The way she crossed her T. The little curl beneath the final I.”
I examined the name again.
Teresa Moretti.
My mother's name.
A signature that shouldn't exist.
Matteo reached for the document.
“May I?”
I handed it to him.
He studied the lower corner.
“Luca. Look at the date.”
I leaned closer.
The signature itself had been taken from an old authorization dated twelve years earlier.
A hospital consent form.
Someone had copied it onto a newer document.
My stomach turned.
“They used her signature.”
Matteo nodded.
“Someone wanted the hospital records to show Jack went to a member of our family.”
“But not to anyone living,” Emily whispered.
I looked at her.
“Exactly.”
For the first time, I saw the cruelty of the plan.
Whoever had arranged this hadn't merely hidden my son.
They had created a paper trail leading to a dead woman.
A trail designed to stop anyone who followed it.
I placed the document inside a clean folder.
“We need the original transfer records.”
Matteo nodded.
“I know where they might be.”
I looked at him.
“Where?”
“Bellamy kept archived medical documents in a private storage office near his old practice.”
“How do you know?”
Matteo hesitated.
“Because I paid the rent.”
Silence settled over the room.
I stared at my brother.
“Of course you did.”
He looked ashamed.
“Luca—”
“Every time I turn around, you've paid for another part of this nightmare.”
“I thought I was protecting Sofia.”
“She's dead, Matteo.”
His expression tightened.
“You think I don't know that?”
I stepped closer.
“You helped conceal the birth of my children. You moved money that belonged to grieving families. You stood beside me at my wife's funeral and let me believe she died without ever becoming a mother.”
He didn't look away.
“I know what I've done.”
“Then stop explaining it and start fixing it.”
He swallowed.
“All right.”
We returned to the mansion, where Nora was sleeping on the sofa beneath a soft blanket.
Her bandaged hands rested beside her face.
I stood watching her.
Emily approached quietly.
“She likes to sleep with her hands tucked under her cheek.”
I nodded.
“Sofia did that.”
Emily looked at Nora.
“Sometimes she reminds me of someone I've never met.”
I glanced at her.
“You met Sofia.”
“Only for a few hours.”
“That was enough.”
We stood together in silence.
Then Emily spoke.
“Mr. Moretti, if she really is your daughter, what happens to us?”
I understood her question.
She wasn't asking about money.
She was asking whether I planned to take Nora away.
I looked at the woman who had spent three years protecting my child.
“Nora isn't losing her mother.”
Emily's eyes filled.
“But legally—”
“We'll deal with the legal questions properly. I won't separate you from her.”
She pressed a hand to her mouth.
I added, “And when this is over, you're not returning to that cottage unless you want to.”
She glanced down.
“I don't want charity.”
“Neither do I.”
She looked confused.
“I want to make things right.”
Before she could answer, Daniel entered.
“We found Bellamy.”
I turned.
“Where?”
“At his home in Lake Forest.”
“Is he alone?”
“His wife passed away last year. He lives with a caretaker.”
“Arrange a meeting.”
Daniel hesitated.
“He's asked for something first.”
“What?”
“He wants to see Sofia's necklace.”
I looked at him.
“How does he know we have it?”
“Apparently, Harland told him Emily kept a box from the hospital.”
My expression hardened.
Harland had been feeding information to Bellamy.
Even after losing his position, his lies were spreading.
“Keep Harland separated from communications,” I said. “And preserve everything he's already sent.”
Daniel nodded.
Two hours later, I sat across from Dr. Arthur Bellamy in his quiet home.
He was seventy-three now.
His hands trembled.
But his eyes remained sharp.
Matteo sat beside me.
Daniel waited outside.
Bellamy stared at Sofia's necklace.
“I wondered what happened to that.”
I placed it on the table.
“Where is my son?”
Bellamy closed his eyes.
“Luca.”
“Don't.”
He looked at me.
“I've regretted what happened every day.”
“Then tell me where Jack is.”
Bellamy took a long breath.
“The boy was placed with someone who could keep him safe.”
“Who?”
“A family outside Chicago.”
“Names.”
Bellamy looked at Matteo.
“You promised him?”
My brother stiffened.
“Promised who?”
Bellamy's expression changed.
“You don't know?”
I leaned forward.
“Doctor. Names.”
He glanced at the necklace.
“Before Sofia died, she asked me to protect both children.”
“And you separated them?”
“She believed one child was being targeted.”
“By whom?”
Bellamy rubbed his forehead.
“I didn't know who she feared. But she told me someone had been entering her room while she slept.”
I felt cold.
“Our bedroom?”
He nodded.
“She said files were disappearing from her desk.”
Matteo lowered his head.
Bellamy continued.
“When she came to the hospital, she was terrified. She insisted her babies couldn't remain together.”
“Why?”
“Because whoever was following her knew she was expecting twins.”
I stared at him.
“Then why were both children declared dead?”
Bellamy looked toward the window.
“Because I thought making them disappear from the records would protect them.”
“And Sofia?”
His eyes filled.
“Sofia wanted to tell you everything. But she needed one final piece of evidence first.”
“What evidence?”
Bellamy hesitated.
“A recording.”
My heart beat harder.
“Of what?”
“An argument between your father and the man who controlled his trust.”
I looked at Matteo.
He frowned.
“Dad controlled the trust.”
Bellamy shook his head.
“No. He created it. Someone else controlled the money.”
“Who?”
Bellamy stared at us.
“Your mother knew.”
I gripped the arm of my chair.
“She's dead.”
“I know.”
“Then why do you keep bringing her into this?”
Bellamy looked at the silver necklace.
“Because Teresa Moretti discovered the missing money years before Sofia did.”
Matteo sat forward.
“And?”
Bellamy whispered, “She confronted the person responsible.”
My hands tightened.
“What happened?”
“Three weeks later, she died.”
For years, we'd believed our mother suffered a fatal stroke.
Now Bellamy was suggesting her death had been connected to the same secret that destroyed my wife.
I felt the room growing smaller.
“Are you telling me my mother was murdered?”
Bellamy looked away.
“I'm telling you she was afraid before she died.”
I stood.
“Where is Jack?”
Bellamy looked toward the hallway.
Then he said something I never expected.
“He isn't with the family who originally took him.”
My stomach dropped.
“Where is he?”
Bellamy's eyes filled.
“Three months ago, someone came to my home asking the same question.”
“Who?”
May you like
He looked directly at Matteo.
“Your brother.”
