Chapter 7 - THE PROMISE MY MOTHER KEPT
“My mother delivered us?”
The words sounded strange coming out of my mouth.
Father Anthony nodded.
“Sarah worked at Saint Agnes Hospital in 2001. Giovanni mentioned her several times.”
I shook my head.
“My mother told me she was working as a nurse then. But she never said…”
My voice failed.
Vanessa stepped toward me.
“Emily, we should go see her.”
I looked at Luca.
He was studying Michael with an expression I couldn't read.
“First,” Luca said, “my brother is going to tell me everything he knows about Victor.”
Michael looked toward Maria.
“Mom, I never wanted any of this to happen.”
She stood very straight.
“Then stop hiding behind what you wanted and tell us what you did.”
The words silenced him.
Michael admitted he'd been negotiating with Victor for nearly eight months.
The original goal was to protect Moretti Shipping from a damaging investigation into transactions Giovanni had approved decades earlier.
Victor controlled several old financial records.
He'd threatened to release them unless Michael agreed to a merger.
The marriage between Luca and Vanessa would help seal the arrangement.
Vanessa stared at him.
“You used my engagement?”
Michael looked miserable.
“Victor insisted the companies become family.”
“Luca asked me to marry him because he loved me.”
Michael said nothing.
She looked toward Luca.
“Didn't you?”
Luca's face tightened.
“Yes.”
“But you didn't tell me our marriage was tied to a business negotiation.”
“I didn't know Victor had made it a condition.”
Michael finally looked up.
“I handled the financial arrangements.”
Luca's voice was dangerously calm.
“Without telling me.”
“I thought I was protecting the company.”
“You were protecting yourself from a mistake.”
Michael flinched.
Luca continued.
“You borrowed money against the shipping assets, didn't you?”
Michael looked away.
The silence answered for him.
For the first time, I understood that Michael wasn't simply a cruel man trying to hide a grave.
He had made increasingly desperate decisions, each one intended to cover the last.
And Victor had been waiting for exactly that.
Luca turned to Vanessa.
“We need to postpone the wedding.”
She looked as though he'd struck her.
“You're ending our engagement?”
“I'm saying we can't marry while your stepfather is using our families against each other.”
Vanessa's eyes filled.
“There's always something more important than me.”
Luca said nothing.
She laughed bitterly.
“Business. Your brother. Your mother. Now Emily.”
I felt heat rise in my cheeks.
“Please don't bring me into this.”
Vanessa looked at me.
Then she lowered her eyes.
“I'm sorry.”
Those two words sounded difficult.
And this time, I believed she meant them.
We left Saint Gabriel's shortly afterward.
Luca insisted on driving me home personally.
Maria came with us.
Vanessa followed in another car.
Michael wasn't invited.
My mother lived in a modest two-bedroom apartment on Chicago's north side.
The building had peeling paint around the entrance and a stubborn elevator that sometimes stopped between floors.
I suddenly felt embarrassed.
Not because of where we lived.
But because the Morettis had spent more money on flowers for one dinner than my mother spent on groceries in a year.
Luca seemed to understand.
He didn't comment on the building.
He simply carried Maria's coat and held the elevator door.
When I opened our apartment, my mother was waiting in her armchair.
Her gray-streaked brown hair had been brushed neatly.
She wore the pale blue cardigan I bought her for Christmas.
“Emily.”
She held out her arms.
I knelt beside her.
“Mom.”
She hugged me with the arm that had recovered more strength.
“I'm sorry,” she whispered.
“For what?”
“For not telling you sooner.”
I shook my head.
“Just tell me now.”
She looked up at the people standing behind me.
When she saw Maria, she covered her mouth.
“Mrs. Moretti?”
Maria stared at her.
“Sarah?”
For a moment, neither woman spoke.
Then Maria began crying.
“You were at my husband's funeral.”
Sarah nodded.
“He was a good man.”
Luca stepped forward.
“Mrs. Collins, I'm Luca Moretti.”
“I know.”
She looked toward Vanessa.
“And you must be Elena's other girl.”
Vanessa sat down abruptly.
“You knew about me?”
Sarah nodded.
“I held both of you.”
I felt the room tilt.
My mother reached for my hand.
“Emily, your birth mother was a brave woman.”
Then she told us what happened.
Elena had arrived at Saint Agnes Hospital frightened and exhausted.
She'd given birth to twin girls.
Victor Bellini came to collect her and the babies two days later.
But Elena refused to let him take both children.
“She said he wasn't their father,” Sarah explained.
Vanessa covered her mouth.
“He told me he was.”
Sarah nodded sadly.
“Elena said the girls' biological father had died before they were born. Victor had been helping her financially, but she discovered he'd been using her identity to move money.”
Luca leaned forward.
“What happened to the babies?”
“Elena begged me to help her place one daughter somewhere Victor couldn't find her.”
Sarah looked at me.
“You were the smaller twin. You needed extra care.”
Tears filled my eyes.
“She asked me to keep you safe for a few days.”
“And you did?”
Sarah nodded.
“Giovanni Moretti arranged the paperwork for temporary guardianship. He promised Elena they would make everything legal once she was safe.”
Vanessa looked devastated.
“Why did she leave me with Victor?”
“She didn't want to.”
Sarah's voice trembled.
“He had already taken you. Elena was trying to get you back.”
Vanessa began crying.
For years, she'd believed her mother abandoned her.
Now she was learning that Elena had been fighting to protect both daughters.
Sarah continued.
“Two days later, Giovanni came to the hospital. He told me Elena had died.”
I gripped her hand.
“What did you do?”
“I was terrified.”
She looked at Maria.
“Giovanni said Victor was searching for the other baby. He asked me to leave Chicago for a while.”
“You kept Emily?” Luca asked.
Sarah nodded.
“My husband and I had been trying to have children for years. We already loved her.”
Her voice broke.
“Giovanni helped arrange a lawful adoption after the court determined Elena couldn't consent and no other eligible parent came forward.”
Vanessa wiped her face.
“Why didn't he tell us?”
Sarah looked at her gently.
“Because Victor was dangerous. And Giovanni didn't know where you were.”
I stared at my mother.
“Did you ever hear from him again?”
She nodded.
“He sent birthday cards for years. Always unsigned.”
I remembered the envelopes.
Every October, a card arrived with a little pressed flower inside.
My mother used to say they came from someone who loved me but couldn't visit.
I had assumed it was an elderly relative.
Now my chest ached.
“Where are they?”
Sarah pointed toward the hallway.
“In the cedar box under my bed.”
Luca offered to retrieve it.
But my mother stopped him.
“There's another reason I asked you all to come.”
She reached into the pocket of her cardigan.
Inside was a small brass key attached to a faded red ribbon.
“Giovanni gave me this the last time I saw him.”
Maria leaned forward.
“My husband's key?”
Sarah nodded.
“He said if Victor ever came looking for Emily, I should give it to Luca.”
Luca took it carefully.
“What does it open?”
Sarah looked frightened.
“A storage cabinet at the old grocery store.”
Michael had said the store was emptied years ago.
But Luca still owned the property.
Sarah gripped his hand.
“Your father told me something before he died.”
Luca leaned closer.
“What?”
“He said Michael had seen enough to believe Victor's story. But there was one thing nobody knew.”
She looked at Vanessa.
“Your mother didn't go to that warehouse to confront Victor.”
Vanessa stopped crying.
“Then why was she there?”
Sarah's eyes filled.
“Because Giovanni had arranged for her to take both daughters away that night.”
Luca frowned.
“What happened?”
Sarah looked toward the brass key.
“Victor found out. And when Elena tried to leave, someone locked the warehouse doors.”
Michael had said Elena died near the loading entrance.
But Sarah shook her head.
“That's not where she was found.”
Luca stood slowly.
“Then where?”
My mother looked directly at him.
“In the office upstairs.”
The room became silent.
Then she whispered the words that changed everything.
“Luca, your father wasn't the man who discovered Elena's body.”
May you like
She swallowed.
“He was the man who carried her out alive.”
