Chapter 6 - THE GUARDIAN WHO NEVER KNEW
“Read it to me,” I whispered.
Daniel was breathing heavily.
“Rachel, I don't understand.”
“Neither do I.”
Luca stood beside me, his face pale.
Daniel unfolded the paper.
“It says, ‘In the event that Margaret Collins becomes unable to care for Daniel, Luca Moretti is to be contacted as the person designated to ensure his continued protection.’”
I closed my eyes.
“Is there a date?”
“Four years ago.”
The year Grandma died.
Luca stepped closer.
“Daniel, my name is Luca Moretti.”
Silence.
Then my brother said, “The man from the news?”
“Yes.”
“The one with the big house?”
“Yes.”
Daniel sounded confused.
“Why are you in Grandma's papers?”
“I don't know,” Luca said. “But I'm going to find out.”
The honesty surprised me.
He could have pretended to understand.
Men with power often did.
Instead, he admitted he was as lost as we were.
Daniel cleared his throat.
“Do I have to go somewhere?”
My heart broke at the question.
“No,” I said immediately. “You're staying exactly where you belong.”
“With you?”
“Always.”
Luca added quietly, “Nobody is taking you away from your sister.”
Daniel exhaled.
“Okay.”
Then he said, “Rach, could you come by tomorrow? My leg's bothering me.”
“I'll be there.”
After the call ended, I sat down.
The room felt too small for everything we'd learned.
“My grandmother named Luca as Daniel's guardian without telling either of us.”
Samuel nodded.
“She believed he would help if the truth ever came out.”
“Why?”
“Because Elena trusted him.”
Luca gave a bitter laugh.
“My mother trusted me enough to protect children I didn't know existed, but not enough to tell me my sister was alive.”
Samuel's expression softened.
“She feared what you'd do if you discovered the people involved.”
“What would I have done?”
“You would have confronted them.”
Luca looked away.
Samuel continued.
“And eighteen years ago, that might have gotten all of you killed.”
Luca stood silently.
I could see him struggling with two truths.
His mother had deceived him.
And she might have done it because she loved him.
Neither truth erased the other.
I looked at Samuel.
“Why was Daniel connected to the Moretti family?”
Samuel rubbed his forehead.
“I knew there was a child named Daniel. I didn't know Margaret had made Luca his guardian.”
“That isn't what I asked.”
He sighed.
“Daniel's name appeared in records Isabella was trying to protect.”
“Records about what?”
“Money. Property. Ownership.”
Luca frowned.
“Ownership of what?”
Samuel looked toward the watch.
“Edward Hale uncovered a second set of accounts. The stolen money wasn't simply disappearing. It was being redirected into property acquisitions.”
“Through the charitable trusts?”
“Yes.”
“Who benefited?”
Samuel hesitated.
“Carlo Bellini was one beneficiary.”
“And the others?”
“I don't know.”
Luca picked up the documents from the suitcase.
“Then we'll find out.”
We returned to the Moretti mansion shortly before midnight.
The ballroom had been cleared.
The chandeliers still burned overhead, but the room felt strangely empty.
Vanessa stood beside the fireplace.
Her makeup was smudged.
Her engagement ring was gone.
For a moment, I almost felt sorry for her.
Then she saw the blue coat in my hands.
“Where did you find that?”
I stopped.
“In my grandmother's suitcase.”
Vanessa stared at it.
“My father had a coat like that.”
Samuel looked up.
“No. Rebecca's little companion wore it.”
Vanessa's face changed.
“The boy?”
I stepped closer.
“You knew about him?”
She shook her head.
“I knew Rebecca wasn't alone when she left Saint Agnes. Father told me there was a boy who had witnessed something.”
Luca's voice sharpened.
“Witnessed what?”
Vanessa looked toward the piano.
“A meeting.”
“Between whom?”
“My father and Edward Hale.”
Samuel's cane slipped against the marble.
Vanessa continued.
“Rebecca was supposed to be in bed. The boy was hiding behind a curtain. He heard them arguing about a document.”
“What document?” Luca asked.
“A deed.”
Luca frowned.
“To what property?”
Vanessa swallowed.
“A parcel of land outside Pittsburgh. My father claimed it was worthless.”
Samuel closed his eyes.
I watched him.
“What aren't you telling us?”
He looked at Vanessa.
“Carlo knew what Edward found.”
“Yes,” Vanessa said. “And after that meeting, my father stopped sleeping.”
For the first time, she sounded less like a wealthy socialite and more like a frightened daughter remembering something she'd spent years trying to forget.
“He told my mother that if Edward reached the wrong people, everything would collapse.”
Luca approached her.
“What collapsed?”
Vanessa looked at the documents in his hand.
“Our family's finances.”
The admission hung in the air.
“My father wasn't wealthy when he met yours,” she continued. “He'd borrowed heavily. He needed the Moretti accounts to keep his companies alive.”
“And you knew?”
“Not then.”
“When did you learn?”
“After his death.”
Luca stared.
“Eight years ago?”
She nodded.
“I found records showing what he'd done.”
“Why didn't you come to me?”
Vanessa laughed bitterly.
“Because by then, half the people working for you had once worked for my father. I didn't know whom to trust.”
Luca studied her.
“And instead, you became engaged to me.”
Her eyes filled.
“I loved you.”
“Did you?”
“Yes.”
“Enough to tell me the truth?”
She looked away.
“No.”
The simplicity of that answer hurt more than any elaborate excuse.
Luca turned toward the piano.
“Then why did you try to stop Samuel tonight?”
Vanessa's voice cracked.
“Because I knew the recording would expose my father.”
“And you were protecting his reputation?”
“No.”
She looked directly at him.
“I was protecting my mother.”
Luca frowned.
“Your mother?”
Vanessa nodded.
“She signed documents after Father died. I thought she was continuing his business.”
“Was she?”
“I don't know. She told me it was the only way to keep our family out of prison.”
Samuel suddenly stood.
“Where is your mother now?”
Vanessa looked at him.
“Living in Connecticut.”
Samuel's face drained.
“Has she spoken to anyone about the piano?”
“Not that I know.”
He turned toward Luca.
“We need to speak with her.”
“Why?”
Samuel stared at Vanessa.
“Because Carlo Bellini couldn't have forged Elena Moretti's signature after Elena died.”
Luca's eyes narrowed.
“You're saying someone else signed those papers?”
Samuel nodded.
“Someone who knew exactly how Elena wrote.”
Vanessa slowly sank into a chair.
“My mother worked as Elena's personal secretary before she married my father.”
I looked at Luca.
The room seemed to tilt.
Samuel whispered, “Then she had access to the signatures.”
Luca's expression hardened.
“And the family records.”
“Yes.”
“And Isabella's correspondence.”
“Yes.”
Luca turned toward Vanessa.
“What is your mother's maiden name?”
Vanessa stared at him.
“Why?”
“Tell me.”
Her voice was barely audible.
“Evelyn Ward.”
Samuel's eyes filled with horror.
He reached for the piano to steady himself.
Luca noticed.
“Professor?”
May you like
Samuel whispered:
“Evelyn Ward was the woman who told Isabella her mother wanted her dead.”
