Chapter 7 - THE NECKLACE IN THE JEWELRY BOX
“Vittorio is with my mother.”
I barely recognized my own voice.
Alessandro took the phone from my trembling hand.
He checked the screen, then turned to Daniel.
“Margaret Bennett's address. Now.”
I grabbed his sleeve.
“Please don't send men with guns into my mother's house.”
He looked at me.
For a moment, his expression softened.
“We're going to get her out.”
“She has a heart condition.”
“I understand.”
“No,” I whispered. “You don't.”
My mother was fifty-eight.
She took medication every day.
Some mornings, climbing the stairs exhausted her.
If Vittorio frightened her badly enough, she could become seriously ill.
Alessandro lowered his voice.
“Claire, I give you my word. Her safety comes first.”
I wanted to believe him.
But I'd spent the entire evening discovering how easily powerful people made promises.
Daniel drove us to my mother's modest home on the north side of Chicago.
Two security vehicles followed at a distance.
Alessandro insisted that nobody approach until we knew what was happening.
When we arrived, the porch light was on.
My mother's blue sedan stood in the driveway.
A dark luxury car was parked across the street.
Vittorio's car.
I recognized it immediately.
Alessandro noticed.
“Stay behind me.”
I shook my head.
“It's my mother's house.”
He looked at me.
Then he nodded.
We approached together.
The front door was unlocked.
Inside, the living room lamp was glowing.
My mother sat in her favorite armchair.
Her face was pale.
Vittorio stood beside the fireplace.
He looked exactly as he always did at the mansion.
Gray suit.
Silver hair.
Perfectly polished shoes.
A man who seemed incapable of being hurried.
“Alessandro,” he said calmly.
“I wondered when you'd arrive.”
Alessandro stepped forward.
“Move away from her.”
Vittorio raised his hands.
“She's not my prisoner.”
My mother looked at me.
“Claire.”
I rushed to her.
“Mom, are you okay?”
She nodded weakly.
Vittorio watched us.
“I came to ask Margaret a question.”
Alessandro stared at him.
“You came here because she knows what happened to Elena.”
Vittorio sighed.
“You've been listening to Matteo.”
“He's alive.”
Vittorio's expression changed almost imperceptibly.
“I see.”
“You knew he was injured?”
“I knew he was making dangerous accusations.”
Alessandro took another step.
“Did you pay Scarlett?”
Vittorio looked away.
“I arranged for her to help manage Lily's care.”
“You arranged a guardianship petition.”
“I arranged a contingency.”
“For what?”
“For the day your daughter needed protection from your enemies.”
Alessandro laughed once.
There was no humor in it.
“Scarlett put walnuts in my daughter's cake.”
Vittorio's face tightened.
“I didn't authorize that.”
“You expect me to believe you?”
“I hired Scarlett because she had experience in family advocacy. She was supposed to document the problems in your household.”
“Problems she helped create.”
Vittorio was silent.
Then he looked at me.
“Claire, your mother can explain why this began.”
My mother closed her eyes.
“Don't.”
But Vittorio continued.
“Seven years ago, Elena discovered the family's legitimate companies had been used to conceal money. She wanted to expose everything.”
Alessandro stared at him.
“Everything?”
“Your father's business. My work. Your brother's signatures.”
Vittorio's voice grew tired.
“She believed she could separate the innocent from the guilty.”
“And you stopped her.”
“I tried to protect the family.”
My mother looked up.
“You protected yourself.”
Vittorio's jaw tightened.
“You don't understand what was at stake.”
“I understand exactly what was at stake,” she replied.
“A young mother trusted me because she was frightened. And you made sure nobody would believe her.”
I stared at my mother.
“Mom, tell me what happened.”
She took my hand.
“Elena came to the clinic with her baby. She'd been told she was seriously ill. But the tests didn't match her condition.”
Alessandro went still.
“What illness?”
“She was experiencing symptoms from medication she'd been given.”
“Who prescribed it?”
“Her private physician.”
“On whose recommendation?”
My mother looked toward Vittorio.
He didn't deny it.
Alessandro's face turned white.
“You made her sick?”
Vittorio shook his head.
“I arranged treatment.”
“Treatment she didn't need?”
“I was told she was unstable.”
My mother interrupted.
“She wasn't unstable. She was frightened because she knew someone had altered her medical records.”
Vittorio looked at the floor.
For the first time, his composure began to crack.
“I trusted the wrong doctor.”
“You signed the transfers,” my mother said.
“You approved the restrictions on her visitors. You told Alessandro she was dead.”
Alessandro staggered backward.
I reached for him instinctively.
He barely seemed to notice.
“My wife was alive.”
My mother nodded.
“For several months after you buried her.”
“Where?”
“She was moved to a recovery residence. I cared for her.”
“Why didn't you tell me?”
My mother began crying.
“Because they told me Lily would be taken away if I did.”
Alessandro looked toward Vittorio.
The old man said nothing.
“Did you know?” Alessandro asked.
Vittorio's silence answered him.
My mother reached toward the side table.
“Claire, my jewelry box.”
I went to her bedroom.
The small wooden box sat on her dresser.
Inside were a few inexpensive rings.
A wedding band.
A silver chain.
And beneath them, wrapped in blue velvet, was Elena's gold necklace.
E.R.
I brought it back.
My mother held it carefully.
“Elena gave this to me before she left.”
“Where did she go?” Alessandro asked.
“I don't know.”
“Why?”
“She believed someone would come after Lily if she stayed.”
My mother opened the pendant.
Inside was a tiny brass key.
Alessandro leaned closer.
“What does it open?”
“A deposit box,” my mother said.
“Elena placed evidence there.”
Vittorio took a sudden step forward.
“Margaret, don't.”
Everyone turned toward him.
For the first time, he looked genuinely afraid.
My mother stared at him.
“It's time.”
Vittorio's voice broke.
“You don't understand what that evidence will do.”
Alessandro looked at him.
“What will it do?”
Vittorio swallowed.
“It will destroy everything your father built.”
Alessandro answered quietly.
“Then perhaps it deserves to be destroyed.”
My mother placed the necklace in my palm.
“The box is registered under Elena's maiden name.”
Then she looked at Alessandro.
“And there's something else.”
He waited.
“Your mother, Rosa, discovered the truth three years ago.”
Alessandro's eyes filled.
“She confronted Vittorio.”
I looked toward the old man.
His face had turned gray.
My mother continued.
“Rosa told him she was going to tell you everything.”
Alessandro whispered, “What happened?”
My mother began crying harder.
“Two days later, she was dead.”
Vittorio closed his eyes.
May you like
Then he said something that made the entire room go silent.
“Rosa wasn't supposed to die that night.”
