Chapter 6 - THE MAN WHO GUARDED THE WRONG FAMILY
Daniel didn't move.
Neither did Luca.
For several seconds, the only sound in the dining room was the quiet hum of the heating system.
Then Daniel spoke.
“That's impossible.”
Vanessa stared at him.
“Is it?”
Daniel looked toward Luca.
“Sir, I don't know what she's talking about.”
Luca studied him.
Daniel had worked for the Moretti family for twelve years.
He was forty-one, broad-shouldered, and quiet.
He had accompanied Luca through threats, business disputes, funerals, and countless family celebrations.
More importantly, Luca trusted him.
“Vanessa,” Luca said, “explain yourself.”
She swallowed.
“The photograph is inside the wooden box.”
Luca looked toward Mrs. Wilson.
“Would you bring it?”
The house manager nodded.
Daniel stood beside the table, his expression growing tense.
“Mr. Moretti, I was adopted. You know that.”
Luca nodded.
“Yes.”
“My adoptive parents raised me in Wisconsin. I never knew my biological family.”
Vanessa whispered, “Exactly.”
Daniel looked at her.
“That doesn't prove anything.”
“No,” Luca said firmly. “It doesn't.”
I felt strangely relieved.
For the first time that evening, someone was refusing to turn a suspicion into a verdict.
Then Mrs. Wilson returned.
She carried the small walnut box in both hands.
Luca took it carefully.
Its lid was decorated with tiny carved roses.
He opened it.
Inside were three photographs.
A faded hospital bracelet.
And a child's silver necklace.
The necklace held a small cross.
Daniel stared at it.
His face changed.
“Where did you get that?”
Luca looked up.
“You recognize it?”
Daniel slowly reached inside his shirt.
He pulled out a silver chain.
Hanging from it was a tiny cross with a missing corner.
The necklace in the box had the same unusual shape.
But its chain was shorter.
Daniel whispered:
“My adoptive mother told me this belonged to my birth mother.”
Vanessa covered her mouth.
Luca looked between the two crosses.
Then examined the photographs.
One showed a little boy sitting beside a Christmas tree.
Another showed him riding a bicycle.
The third showed a teenager wearing a blue graduation gown.
Daniel slowly sat down.
“That's me.”
Luca stared at him.
“What?”
Daniel pointed toward the third photograph.
“My high school graduation.”
Mrs. Wilson gasped.
Daniel looked as though he couldn't breathe.
“My mother kept a copy on our mantel.”
Luca studied the picture.
Then looked at the date.
It was twenty-two years old.
The same year Daniel had graduated.
He turned toward Anthony.
“How did my mother get this?”
Anthony looked exhausted.
“Matteo sent photographs to Isabella.”
“Of Daniel?”
Anthony nodded.
“It appears so.”
Daniel stood abruptly.
“No.”
His voice shook.
“No, my father was a mechanic. My mother was a school librarian. They loved me.”
Luca stepped closer.
“No one's questioning that.”
Daniel looked at him.
“But you're saying they weren't my first parents.”
Luca put a hand on his shoulder.
“Whatever we learn, the people who raised you are still your parents.”
Daniel stared at the photographs.
Then swallowed hard.
“My adoptive father died seven years ago. My mother is still in Wisconsin.”
Luca nodded.
“You should speak with her.”
Daniel looked toward the hospital bracelet.
He picked it up.
The name was faded.
But two words remained readable.
BABY ROSSI.
He closed his eyes.
Vanessa whispered, “I'm sorry.”
Daniel turned toward her.
“You knew?”
She nodded.
“For six weeks.”
“And you watched me stand outside your bedroom door, drive you to appointments, protect you, and never said anything?”
Tears ran down her face.
“I didn't know how.”
Daniel laughed once.
A painful, disbelieving sound.
“You found a secret about my entire life, and you used it to bargain for property.”
Vanessa lowered her head.
For once, she had no answer.
Luca turned toward the walnut box.
There was a folded card beneath the photographs.
He opened it.
It contained a Wisconsin address and a woman's name.
Eleanor Hayes.
Daniel whispered, “That's my mother's name.”
Luca stared at the card.
Then he noticed another line.
Written in Isabella's handwriting were six words.
She knows why Gabriel was sent away.
Daniel sat down again.
For a moment, nobody spoke.
Then his phone vibrated.
He glanced at the screen.
“It's my mother.”
Luca nodded.
“Answer it.”
Daniel hesitated.
Then stepped into the hallway.
I watched him disappear.
I wondered what it must feel like to learn that the family you'd spent your life protecting might also be the family that had hidden your beginning.
Vanessa sat with her hands folded tightly.
Anthony looked older than he had an hour earlier.
Luca closed the walnut box.
Then turned toward me.
“Claire, your stitches.”
I looked at my hand.
I'd almost forgotten.
“Daniel arranged a driver,” he continued. “Please go to the hospital.”
I nodded.
“Thank you.”
As I stood, Vanessa spoke quietly.
“Claire.”
I froze.
She looked at my bandage.
“I know saying I'm sorry doesn't fix what I did.”
I didn't answer.
She swallowed.
“I was terrified that if you moved the mirror, Luca would discover the folder before I could explain it.”
I looked directly at her.
“You could have asked me to leave the room.”
Vanessa closed her eyes.
“I know.”
“You didn't need to hurt me.”
Her lips trembled.
“No.”
For the first time, her apology sounded less like a performance.
But I wasn't ready to forgive her.
I picked up my coat.
Then Daniel returned.
His face was white.
Luca turned.
“What happened?”
Daniel slowly lowered his phone.
“My mother told me she always knew I had another family.”
Luca nodded.
“Did she know Sofia?”
“Yes.”
“Did she know Matteo?”
Daniel swallowed.
“She said he visited us every Christmas until I turned eighteen.”
Luca stared.
“My father?”
Daniel nodded.
“He told her he was my uncle.”
Anthony covered his face.
Daniel continued.
“She also said Isabella visited once.”
“When?” Luca asked.
“The summer before she died.”
Luca took a step closer.
“What happened?”
Daniel's voice broke.
“My mother said Isabella brought me a silver watch and asked whether I wanted to meet my birth mother.”
Luca looked toward the watch on the table.
Daniel stared at it.
“I told her I needed time.”
He swallowed.
“She said she understood.”
Then Daniel looked directly at Luca.
“And three weeks later, your mother was dead.”
The room fell silent.
Luca gripped the back of a chair.
Daniel continued.
“My mother remembers something else.”
“What?”
“She said Isabella was afraid of a man who kept following her.”
Luca frowned.
“Who?”
Daniel's jaw tightened.
“Peter Lawson.”
But before Luca could respond, Daniel added something worse.
“My mother said Peter wasn't working for your father anymore.”
Luca stared.
“Then who was paying him?”
May you like
Daniel looked toward Anthony.
“Margaret Bellini.”
