Chapter 5 - THE BLUE NOTEBOOK
Alessandro didn't move.
“What did you say?”
Matteo held the notebook with trembling fingers.
“I said Vittorio tried to steal your daughter.”
Alessandro stared at him.
“Lily was a baby.”
“I know.”
“Then explain yourself.”
Matteo pressed his hand against his bleeding shoulder.
“Seven years ago, Elena discovered that her father had created a protected family trust.”
I crouched beside him while Daniel called for medical assistance.
Matteo continued.
“The trust held controlling shares in several legitimate companies. Thomas Bell wanted those assets kept away from the Romano family's criminal operations.”
Alessandro frowned.
“Elena never mentioned this.”
“She tried.”
“No.”
“She wrote you letters.”
Alessandro shook his head.
“I never received them.”
Matteo looked away.
“Vittorio intercepted them.”
The room became silent.
I looked at the blue notebook.
It was small enough to fit in a coat pocket.
Its cover was worn at the edges.
A child's sticker of a yellow star decorated the front.
“Elena kept records,” Matteo said. “Payments, dates, names.”
“Why didn't you come forward?” Alessandro demanded.
Matteo lowered his eyes.
“Because I was involved.”
Alessandro stood.
“What did you do?”
“I signed papers.”
“What papers?”
“Documents transferring temporary management of the trust to Vittorio.”
“Without Elena's permission?”
Matteo nodded.
“I thought it was a business arrangement.”
Alessandro's face hardened.
“You stole from my wife.”
“Yes.”
The admission surprised me.
Matteo didn't try to excuse himself.
He looked ashamed.
“I was twenty-nine. I wanted Vittorio to believe I was capable of running the family businesses.”
He swallowed.
“He told me Elena was threatening everything our father had built.”
“And you believed him.”
“I wanted to.”
Alessandro turned away.
Matteo continued.
“Then Thomas Bell died. Elena found out the signatures on the transfer documents were forged.”
I opened the notebook.
The first pages contained dates and financial entries.
But halfway through, the handwriting changed.
The sentences became shorter.
More frightened.
Vittorio says Alessandro cannot protect Lily. He wants control of everything before she is old enough to inherit.
I looked up.
“What happens when Lily turns eight?”
Matteo answered.
“The trust changes.”
“How?”
“Thomas Bell wrote a special provision. Until Lily's eighth birthday, the trustee can request changes to her medical and guardianship arrangements. After that, independent trustees must review and approve any major decisions.”
Alessandro's eyes narrowed.
“So Vittorio needs control before her birthday.”
“Yes.”
“And Scarlett?”
“She's supposed to become the legal guardian.”
“Then she controls the trust?”
“Not directly. She would control where Lily lives and who has access to her. Vittorio would continue managing the assets while the court reviewed Alessandro's fitness as a parent.”
I felt sick.
The poisoned cake wasn't simply cruelty.
It was meant to create evidence.
One medical emergency would become proof that Alessandro couldn't protect his child.
And Scarlett would step forward as the caring fiancée.
A woman who had supposedly recognized the danger.
“Did Vittorio order her to put walnuts in the cake?” I asked.
Matteo shook his head.
“I don't know.”
“Someone prepared an incident report before dinner,” Alessandro said.
Matteo closed his eyes.
“Then it's worse than I thought.”
He looked at his brother.
“Vittorio was supposed to arrange a temporary guardianship dispute. Not hurt Lily.”
Alessandro's expression darkened.
“You knew there was a plan involving my daughter?”
“Yes.”
“And you stayed silent?”
Matteo's voice broke.
“I tried to stop it.”
“After how many years?”
Matteo couldn't answer.
Alessandro stepped back.
For a moment, I thought the brothers would never speak again.
Then Matteo looked at me.
“Claire, please open the back cover.”
I turned the notebook over.
Inside was a photograph.
Elena stood beside a young woman holding a baby.
The woman had light-brown hair.
A soft smile.
And a small scar above her left eyebrow.
I recognized her.
Not from the mansion.
From my mother's photograph album.
The woman was my mother.
I stared at the picture.
“That can't be right.”
Alessandro turned.
“What is it?”
I held up the photograph.
“That's my mother.”
Matteo looked confused.
“Your mother?”
“Her name is Margaret Bennett.”
Matteo stared at me.
Then his expression changed.
“Bennett?”
I nodded.
He took a shaky breath.
“Elena trusted a nurse named Margaret Bennett.”
I nearly dropped the photograph.
“My mother was a nurse.”
“Did she ever work in Chicago?”
“Yes.”
“Before you were born?”
“She worked at several hospitals.”
Matteo looked at Alessandro.
“Margaret helped Elena after the transfer.”
I felt the room spinning.
My mother had never mentioned Elena Romano.
She had never mentioned the clinic.
She had never mentioned Lily.
But she had warned me about working for the Romano family.
Eleven months earlier, when I'd received the job offer, she'd begged me to decline it.
I thought she was simply frightened by Alessandro's reputation.
Now I wondered whether she'd recognized the name.
“Why would my mother keep this secret?” I whispered.
Matteo looked exhausted.
“Because she was protecting someone.”
“Who?”
“Elena.”
Alessandro stepped closer.
“Where is my wife?”
Matteo shook his head.
“I don't know.”
“You expect me to believe that?”
“I know she survived the first hospital.”
“That's not enough.”
Matteo looked at the notebook.
“The last time I saw Elena, she told me she'd arranged for someone to keep evidence safe.”
“Who?”
He pointed at the photograph.
“Margaret.”
My phone suddenly felt heavy in my pocket.
I had spoken to my mother that morning.
She'd asked whether Lily was doing well.
Not whether my employer was kind.
Not whether I needed anything.
She'd specifically asked about Lily.
I had thought it was because I talked about the child so often.
Now I wasn't sure.
Alessandro studied me.
“Claire, can you call your mother?”
I nodded.
But my hands were trembling.
The call went to voicemail.
I tried again.
Nothing.
I opened my messages.
There was one from her, sent twenty minutes earlier.
Claire, whatever happens tonight, don't let anyone take Lily away. And if you find the blue notebook, remember that the last page is not the last page.
I stared at the screen.
Then I looked at the notebook.
The final page was blank.
But beneath the back cover, something was sewn into the binding.
A thin piece of folded paper.
I carefully pulled it free.
It contained one sentence in Elena's handwriting.
THE PERSON WHO KNOWS WHERE I AM IS THE WOMAN WHO HAS BEEN TAKING CARE OF MY DAUGHTER.
May you like
Alessandro looked at me.
And for the first time, I was afraid he might believe I had been hiding his wife all along.
