Chapter 2 - THE VOICE THAT SHOULD HAVE BEEN SILENT
Roman Bellandi had spent eleven years believing his mother was dead.
Now, standing in his study while eighty guests applauded downstairs, he heard his aunt tell him she had survived the accident that killed his father.
And the woman he intended to marry was about to play her voice.
“Tell me you're mistaken,” Roman said.
Teresa Bellandi tightened her grip on the old photograph.
“I wish I were.”
From the ballroom speakers came Vanessa's cheerful voice.
“Roman, darling, this is something I've been saving for a very special occasion.”
Roman reached for his security radio.
“Cut the audio.”
Teresa caught his wrist.
“No. Listen first.”
“Why?”
“Because I've never heard the recording. I need to know what she has.”
Roman looked at his aunt for a long moment.
Then he lowered the radio.
I stood beside the study door, clutching my handbag against my chest.
An hour earlier, Vanessa had accused me of stealing jewelry.
Now I was listening to a family secret that made the stolen earring seem almost harmless.
Downstairs, music faded.
A woman's voice filled the ballroom.
“Roman, sweetheart. If you're hearing this, I want you to remember something.”
Roman stopped breathing.
I knew that expression.
It was the look people wore when a memory suddenly became more real than the room around them.
His mother continued.
“Whatever happens, take care of your family. And never let anyone convince you that kindness makes you weak.”
The recording crackled.
Then another voice spoke.
A man's voice.
“That's enough, Mrs. Bellandi.”
The audio ended.
Applause erupted downstairs.
Roman remained motionless.
Teresa pressed one hand against her mouth.
“That wasn't part of any recording your mother made for you.”
Roman turned.
“Explain.”
“She used to record messages when you were young. Birthday wishes. Advice. Stories. But that last sentence—”
She swallowed.
“Someone interrupted her.”
Roman called his security director, Michael Russo.
“Bring Vanessa to my study. Quietly. And preserve that recording.”
He looked at me.
“Emma, stay.”
Before I could answer, Mia slipped her hand into mine.
“Daddy, was that Grandma?”
Roman knelt beside his daughter.
“Yes, sweetheart.”
“Was she scared?”
Roman looked toward Teresa.
“I don't know.”
Mia studied his face.
Then she said something that nearly broke him.
“You can be sad, Daddy. I won't tell anybody.”
Roman pulled her into his arms.
For several seconds, the most feared man in the room was simply a father holding his little girl.
Then Teresa spoke.
“Roman, there's something else.”
She reached into her handbag and removed a silver pocket watch.
Its glass was cracked.
The hands were frozen at 9:17.
“Your father carried this on the night of the accident.”
Roman recognized it immediately.
“My grandfather gave him that.”
“Yes.”
“Why do you have it?”
Teresa looked away.
“Because someone delivered it to me three days after the funeral.”
Roman stood.
“Who?”
“A woman from a private rehabilitation facility in Pennsylvania.”
The room became quiet.
“She told me your mother had survived. She had suffered a head injury and was being kept under medical supervision.”
“Under whose authority?”
Teresa's voice trembled.
“I never found out.”
Roman stared at her.
“You knew she was alive.”
“I knew she had survived the crash. I didn't know whether she was still alive after that.”
“And you said nothing?”
“Your father had been murdered. People were watching the estate. I was told you would be next if I asked questions.”
“You let me bury her.”
Teresa's eyes filled.
“I let you bury an empty casket because I was terrified they'd bury you for real.”
Roman turned away.
I could see his hands shaking.
Mia quietly stepped beside her aunt.
Then she noticed something.
“Aunt Teresa, your watch is open.”
The pocket watch had slipped from Teresa's fingers.
Its back cover hung loose.
Inside was a faded photograph of Roman as a boy.
But behind the photograph, tucked beneath the metal rim, was a narrow folded strip of paper.
Roman removed it carefully.
Three words had been written in blue ink.
ASK ABOUT ELEANOR.
“Who's Eleanor?” I asked.
Teresa's face lost its color.
Before she could answer, Michael appeared with Vanessa.
Vanessa wore a concerned expression.
“Roman? What's happening?”
Roman held up the watch.
“Who is Eleanor?”
Vanessa's smile disappeared.
“I don't know.”
Then Mia pointed toward Vanessa's diamond earrings.
“Daddy, those are the ones from the blue box.”
Vanessa touched her ears.
Roman turned.
“What blue box?”
Mia looked confused.
“The one Vanessa keeps in her closet. It says Eleanor on the bottom.”
Nobody spoke.
Then Teresa whispered:
“Eleanor was your mother's private nurse.”
Roman stared at Vanessa.
May you like
And Vanessa, who had spent the entire evening accusing me of lying, finally said something that sounded like the truth.
“Roman, if you open that box, my father will know we've found her.”
