Chapter 7 - THE BOY WHO BELIEVED SHE HAD ABANDONED HIM
“Then I want to speak to him.”
Luca stood in the hospital corridor with his phone pressed against his ear.
Evelyn was still on the line.
“I understand,” she replied. “But Elliot is an adult now. He has the right to decide whether he wants contact.”
Luca closed his eyes.
“Of course.”
I stood a few feet away.
Adelaide was sleeping after a difficult morning of therapy.
Her recovery was still uncertain.
Dr. Harris had confirmed that the medication discrepancies required further investigation, but Adelaide's current care was stable.
The question of what had happened at the children's home remained unanswered.
And now we knew Elliot was alive.
Not safe, necessarily.
Not happy.
But alive.
That mattered.
Luca ended the call.
“Evelyn will contact Martha. If Elliot agrees, we can meet him.”
“And Mia and Benjamin?”
“No confirmed information yet.”
I looked toward Adelaide's room.
“She'll want to know.”
“I know.”
He leaned against the wall.
For the first time since the engagement dinner, the feared businessman looked like an ordinary son afraid he'd failed his mother.
“I should have visited that home more often,” he said.
“You were there when you were younger.”
“Then I got busy.”
He laughed without humor.
“Everybody gets busy. It's a convenient excuse.”
I thought of the unpaid tuition notice waiting in my own email.
My younger brother, Caleb, was twenty.
He'd been working weekends to help cover his college expenses.
I'd taken the job at Luca's mansion because it paid enough to help him stay enrolled.
My mother had died three years earlier.
Sometimes I still reached for my phone to tell her things.
Now, standing beside Luca, I understood that guilt could make people overlook what was right in front of them.
But guilt wasn't the same as responsibility.
“You can't change the years you missed,” I said. “You can decide what you do now.”
He nodded.
“I will.”
That afternoon, Anthony Bellini arrived at the hospital.
Not with Richard.
Not with Vanessa.
Alone.
He wore the gold watch from the photograph.
Luca noticed immediately.
“Patricia met you.”
Anthony nodded.
“Yes.”
“Why didn't you tell me?”
“Because I was afraid.”
“Of my reaction?”
“Of what the truth would do to my children.”
Luca's expression hardened.
“Your children are adults.”
“I know.”
Anthony sat heavily.
“Richard built his career on foundation-related financing. Years ago, he made arrangements with outside placement contractors. I thought the contracts were legitimate.”
“When did you learn otherwise?”
“Three years ago.”
Luca stared at him.
“Three years?”
Anthony nodded.
“I found duplicate invoices and payments made after children had supposedly left the program.”
“And you did nothing?”
“I confronted Richard. He told me the discrepancies were administrative errors.”
“You believed him?”
“I wanted to.”
That answer was painfully familiar.
Anthony rubbed his hands together.
“Then Patricia came to me with copies of the same records. She'd discovered that someone was trying to make Adelaide appear incapable of managing the foundation.”
“What did you tell Patricia?”
“I told her Richard had once controlled the transfer contracts.”
“Did you help her?”
“I gave her the cabinet key.”
Luca frowned.
“The same key you brought to dinner?”
“A duplicate.”
“Why?”
“Because I finally understood that keeping quiet hadn't protected anybody.”
I looked at Anthony's face.
He was ashamed.
But he hadn't been innocent.
His silence had allowed questionable payments and misleading records to survive for years.
Luca understood that too.
“Where is Patricia?”
Anthony shook his head.
“I don't know. She was planning to meet Martha Keene.”
“In Milwaukee?”
“Yes.”
“Then why did you let Vanessa tell everyone she'd resigned?”
Anthony looked down.
“I didn't know Vanessa had been told that story until the dinner.”
“Richard told her?”
“I believe so.”
Luca studied him.
“Then why did Vanessa try to have Mom declared incapable?”
Anthony hesitated.
“Richard told her the foundation would collapse unless the property was sold quickly. Vanessa had invested a large portion of her savings in his redevelopment plan.”
That surprised me.
Vanessa wasn't simply expecting to become wealthy through marriage.
She had risked her own money.
“Richard told her the investment would secure her future,” Anthony continued. “She believed he was saving the foundation.”
Luca said nothing.
Then Anthony added, “But she knew Adelaide refused to approve the sale.”
“And she still pursued the medical assessment.”
“Yes.”
Nothing excused that.
Still, I could see how Richard had used Vanessa's fear of financial ruin.
She wanted security.
He offered it.
Then made her believe she had no choice but to help him.
Anthony stood.
“I've given investigators the records I kept. I'll answer whatever questions they ask.”
Luca looked at the gold watch.
“My father trusted you.”
Anthony's eyes filled.
“I know.”
“He gave you that because he believed you kept your promises.”
Anthony removed the watch.
He placed it on the table.
“I haven't earned the right to wear it.”
Luca didn't pick it up.
“Then earn it back by telling the truth.”
After Anthony left, I brought Adelaide a cup of water.
She was awake.
I told her Elliot was alive.
Her eyes filled immediately.
“Alive?”
“Yes.”
She reached for her notebook.
COME HOME?
I hesitated.
“We don't know yet. But Evelyn is trying to reach him.”
Adelaide nodded.
Then held my hand.
“Thank,” she whispered.
I smiled.
“You don't have to thank me.”
She shook her head.
“See me.”
I swallowed hard.
Because that was what she meant.
Not the letters.
Not the medication.
Not the foundation.
I'd seen her as a person when everyone else had treated her like a problem.
That evening, Martha Keene arrived.
She was a tired-looking woman in her late sixties.
Her first words to Luca were an apology.
“I should have come forward years ago.”
“Then tell me what happened.”
Martha sat beside Adelaide.
“Elliot, Mia, and Benjamin were approved for what the files described as a coordinated family placement.”
Evelyn frowned.
“There was no family placement.”
“I know that now.”
Martha explained that a contractor had supplied apparently valid authorization documents.
The children were moved into a temporary residential program.
Their records were later divided among different agencies.
When Martha tried to follow up, she was told the cases had been reassigned.
“Who reassigned them?” Luca asked.
“Samuel Price signed the administrative order. Richard's office processed the funding.”
“Where did the children actually go?”
Martha swallowed.
“Benjamin was placed with a family in Wisconsin after several months. I have recent contact information for his former guardian, but I haven't confirmed where he is today.”
“And Mia?”
“She remained with a transitional care provider for several years. I believe she's now living independently.”
Luca leaned forward.
“And Elliot?”
Martha looked toward Adelaide.
“He spent years moving between placements. When he turned eighteen, he left the system.”
“Where is he?”
“Milwaukee.”
“Does he know the truth?”
“Not all of it.”
Adelaide began crying.
Martha took her hand.
“He kept your coat. He kept your Christmas card. But he believed you signed the transfer because he was too difficult to keep.”
Luca looked away.
I squeezed Adelaide's hand.
Martha opened her handbag.
She removed a photograph.
Elliot was now a handsome young man with dark hair and a tired expression.
He stood beside an old pickup truck.
There was a small embroidered star stitched onto the sleeve of his work jacket.
The same star Adelaide had put on his coat.
Martha smiled sadly.
“He learned to repair engines.”
Luca's eyes filled.
“He always wanted to.”
Then Martha's expression changed.
“There is something else you should know before meeting him.”
Luca looked up.
“What?”
“Elliot helped Patricia.”
“How?”
“He found records connecting the old placement contractor to the proposed sale of Moretti House.”
Luca went still.
“Where are those records?”
Martha looked toward the hospital window.
“Patricia has them.”
“Then where is Patricia?”
Martha hesitated.
“She isn't missing because someone kidnapped her.”
Luca leaned forward.
“What are you saying?”
Martha's voice dropped.
“Patricia went into hiding after she discovered someone had used Elliot's name to authorize payments even after he became an adult.”
The room went silent.
“Whose payments?” Luca asked.
Martha looked directly at him.
“Someone has been receiving money through an account opened using Elliot's identity.”
May you like
She swallowed.
“And the person who opened it was scheduled to become your wife.”
