Chapter 4 - THE BLUE STONE IN HIS MOTHER'S BRACELET
“My father paid Peter Lawson to keep my mother away from the police?”
Luca stared at Anthony.
“Is that what you're telling me?”
Anthony shook his head.
“I'm telling you Peter carried her medication bag that night. The rest is something you'll have to prove.”
Luca's expression hardened.
“You've known about this for nine years.”
“I suspected.”
“And you said nothing.”
Anthony looked tired.
“Your father was my oldest friend.”
Luca gave a bitter laugh.
“That explains your silence?”
“No.”
Anthony lowered his eyes.
“It explains my cowardice.”
For a moment, nobody spoke.
Then Vanessa reached toward Luca.
“Please. I know you've lost trust in me, but my father isn't lying about everything.”
Luca stepped away.
“That's hardly a recommendation.”
She withdrew her hand.
I was watching the silver watch on the table.
Something bothered me.
The paper hidden inside had been folded carefully.
Not hurriedly.
Someone had wanted it found.
“Mr. Moretti?”
Luca turned.
“Claire, you should be on your way to the hospital.”
“I know, sir. But the woman who brought that watch also wore your mother's bracelet.”
“Yes.”
“She kept rubbing one blue stone.”
He studied me.
“Why does that matter?”
“Maybe because something was wrong with it.”
Mrs. Wilson looked up.
“Isabella had one stone repaired before she died.”
Luca frowned.
“Repaired?”
“She said the setting was loose. She asked the jeweler to make it open.”
Luca turned.
“Open?”
Mrs. Wilson nodded.
“Your mother was always hiding little notes. Birthday wishes. Reminders. She once put a recipe inside your father's cuff link box.”
A faint smile crossed Luca's face.
Then disappeared.
“Where's the bracelet now?”
Nobody answered.
Vanessa looked toward her father.
Anthony sighed.
“Sofia has it.”
“Then I need to speak to Sofia.”
Vanessa shook her head.
“She won't come.”
“Why?”
“Because she doesn't trust you.”
Luca stared at her.
“Because you told her I hid my mother's letter?”
“That was part of it.”
“What else?”
Vanessa looked down.
“She thinks you know what happened.”
The room became quiet.
Luca looked genuinely wounded.
“I was twenty-nine when my mother died.”
Anthony nodded.
“And your father's business partner by then.”
“So?”
“So Sofia believes you may have helped protect him.”
Luca stepped away from the table.
For several seconds, I thought he might shout.
Instead, he looked toward the portrait of his father.
“I spent nine years mourning my mother beside the man who may have concealed the truth.”
His voice broke slightly.
“And now her sister thinks I helped him.”
Nobody knew what to say.
Then Richard spoke.
“Mr. Moretti, perhaps we should begin with the estate transaction. It's the clearest evidence we have.”
Luca nodded slowly.
“Show me the transfer.”
Richard opened his folder.
“The properties were being moved into Bellini Heritage Holdings.”
Anthony looked sharply at Vanessa.
“What?”
She closed her eyes.
“Daddy—”
“What do you mean, Bellini Heritage Holdings?”
Richard frowned.
“Isn't that your company?”
Anthony shook his head.
“I sold my remaining interest three years ago.”
Luca looked at Vanessa.
“To whom?”
She hesitated.
“To me.”
Anthony rose from his chair.
“Vanessa, you told me you dissolved that company.”
“I intended to.”
“You promised your mother!”
Tears filled Vanessa's eyes.
“Mother promised me something too.”
Anthony's expression changed.
“What?”
Vanessa wiped her cheeks.
“She told me Isabella's properties belonged to our family.”
Luca stared at her.
“Why would my mother's property belong to you?”
Vanessa looked toward the silver watch.
“Because your father took something from mine.”
Anthony lowered his head.
For the first time, I saw shame on his face.
Luca noticed.
“What did he take?”
Anthony slowly sat down.
“An investment.”
“How much?”
“Enough to nearly ruin us.”
Vanessa's voice hardened.
“Fourteen million dollars.”
Luca looked stunned.
“My father stole fourteen million dollars from your family?”
Anthony shook his head.
“He promised it would be returned through the estate. I never found a signed agreement.”
Vanessa laughed bitterly.
“Because every agreement disappeared.”
Richard studied the transfer.
“Miss Bellini, were you using Sofia's signature to reclaim that money?”
Vanessa looked away.
“I was trying to recover what my mother lost.”
“By taking houses that belonged to my mother?” Luca asked.
“Your father treated ours like they meant nothing!”
Luca stared at her.
“And Claire? What did she have to do with any of it?”
Vanessa glanced toward me.
“Nothing.”
“Then why hurt her?”
Her face crumpled.
“I panicked.”
“You threatened to fire her.”
“I know.”
“You made her stand injured for hours.”
Vanessa began crying.
“I know.”
But this time Luca didn't comfort her.
“Knowing isn't the same as taking responsibility.”
Daniel returned carrying a small tablet.
“Sir, I checked the service entrance records.”
Luca turned.
“What did you find?”
“Sofia entered the house twice, not once.”
Vanessa stopped crying.
Luca frowned.
“When?”
“Two weeks ago. And yesterday morning.”
I looked up.
“Yesterday?”
Daniel nodded.
“She entered through the garden gate at 7:12.”
Luca looked toward Vanessa.
“Were you here?”
“No.”
Daniel continued.
“Mrs. Wilson was at the market. Claire was preparing breakfast.”
I frowned.
I remembered yesterday morning.
The kitchen window had been open.
Someone had left fresh roses on the sill.
I'd assumed they came from the gardener.
“Mr. Moretti?”
He turned.
“There were roses in the kitchen yesterday.”
Mrs. Wilson looked surprised.
“Roses?”
“Yes. Three white ones tied with blue ribbon.”
Luca went still.
“My mother always brought three white roses to my grandmother's grave.”
Daniel examined the tablet.
“Sofia stayed inside for eleven minutes.”
“Where did she go?” Luca asked.
“The kitchen. Then the library.”
Luca picked up the photograph.
“That's where my mother kept her albums.”
Something suddenly clicked in my mind.
“The old family Bible.”
Mrs. Wilson turned.
“What about it?”
“The woman asked about photographs. But yesterday, when I dusted the library, the Bible was lying open.”
Luca stared at me.
“Which page?”
“I don't remember. There was a blue ribbon between the pages.”
Mrs. Wilson covered her mouth.
“Isabella used blue ribbon to mark important things.”
Luca looked at Daniel.
“Bring the Bible.”
Five minutes later, Daniel returned.
The old leather cover was worn.
Its pages smelled faintly of cedar.
Luca opened it at the blue ribbon.
Inside was a photograph of Isabella holding a newborn baby.
Luca smiled sadly.
“That's me.”
Mrs. Wilson leaned closer.
Then froze.
“No.”
Luca looked up.
“What?”
She pointed toward the date written beneath the picture.
“Sir, this photograph was taken before you were born.”
Luca stared at the handwriting.
The date was thirteen months earlier than his birthday.
Beneath it were three words.
SOFIA'S LITTLE BOY.
Luca looked toward Anthony.
“Who is that baby?”
Anthony closed his eyes.
May you like
And Vanessa whispered:
“That's the reason Sofia never stopped looking for the truth.”
