Chapter 6 - BRIDE NUMBER TWO HAD NEVER GONE HOME
Camille Laurent was supposed to marry Luca three years ago.
French.
Twenty-nine.
Daughter of a shipping family.
She stayed at the Moretti estate for forty-eight hours.
Then Luca was told she returned to Paris.
He never called.
Why would he?
She had made it clear she found him frightening.
Or so he believed.
But her passport had never left Italy.
Matteo looked pale.
“She came to me.”
Luca turned.
“You knew?”
“She found trust records in Father’s study.”
Another curious bride.
Another secret.
Camille discovered Moretti Family Property Trust contained assets linked to her own family company.
She believed Vittorio had used marriage proposal to absorb Laurent shipping interests.
She asked Matteo for help.
He arranged a car to Milan.
She never arrived.
“What happened to her?” I asked.
Matteo said:
“I don’t know.”
Vittorio on speaker laughed.
“You expect them to believe that?”
Then Luca:
“Father, where is Camille?”
Silence.
Then:
“Ask Alessandro.”
Everyone turned toward attorney.
He looked terrified.
Not a good sign.
Alessandro admitted he intercepted Camille’s car.
On Vittorio’s orders.
Brought her to another Moretti property.
Why?
To persuade her to sign confidentiality papers.
Did anyone hurt her?
“No.”
“Where did she go?”
“Switzerland.”
Under another name.
She wanted out completely.
Vittorio paid her two million euros.
So she was alive?
At least then.
Why no passport departure?
Private ground transport.
Then new identity.
Legal? questionable.
But maybe.
Then Vittorio said:
“She is still alive.”
“Proof?” Luca asked.
“I’ll give you proof when Sophia returns to the estate.”
I laughed.
“You’re very confident I take orders.”
“Your father did.”
That landed.
Then:
“Come back. All of you.”
Why?
“I’m dying.”
That was direct.
“And I would prefer not to leave this family to children who think they understand what happened.”
Luca said:
“You created most of what happened.”
“Probably.”
Interesting.
No denial.
We returned because avoiding a dying patriarch did not solve documents.
Vittorio waited in a private library.
He was smaller than I imagined.
Cancer had thinned him.
But his eyes were still Luca’s eyes.
Cold when necessary.
Too observant always.
He looked at me.
“So this is the baker.”
“Yes.”
“You’re not frightened.”
“I am.”
That surprised him.
“I just don’t think fear requires obedience.”
Luca looked at me.
Vittorio smiled faintly.
“I understand why he likes you.”
Luca stiffened.
I did too.
Nobody had said like.
Then Vittorio gave us a video call.
Camille.
Alive.
Living near Geneva.
Married.
Two children.
She looked healthy.
She confirmed:
She had left voluntarily after Alessandro pressured her.
She took money.
Changed identity partly because her own father was abusive and she wanted escape from both families.
She apologized to Luca for insulting his appearance.
“I was told if I made you hate me, you wouldn’t follow.”
Luca’s face went blank.
Another rejection manufactured.
Camille cried.
“I’m sorry.”
He said:
“You survived.”
That was all.
Then after call, Vittorio looked at us.
“Now you understand.”
“No,” I said. “We understand one woman is alive.”
He smiled.
Fair.
Then he admitted bride one and three had been alliance tests.
Bride four was arranged by a rival family.
Bride five had been Elena’s early attempt to find someone sympathetic to Matteo? Elena denied. No—bride five father arranged but she discovered Luca’s reputation and left genuinely.
And me?
Vittorio swore:
“I did not choose you.”
That contradicted Alessandro.
The lawyer began sweating again.
Who did?
Alessandro finally admitted.
Sophia’s mother.
Dead woman?
Anna died eight years earlier.
Before death, she signed a sealed instruction with Alessandro’s father.
If Matteo ever resurfaced, arrange meeting between Sophia and Luca.
Not necessarily marriage.
Meeting.
Why?
Anna believed Luca was the only Moretti who could protect Matteo from Vittorio while also protecting Sophia from Bennett financial collapse.
So mother created contingency.
After Anna died, Alessandro inherited instruction.
Then Elena found.
Turned meeting into wedding.
Dad turned wedding into debt settlement.
Everyone edited the dead woman’s wish until it became something else.
What did Anna actually want?
A letter.
Sophia,
If this reaches you, then Matteo is alive.
My hands shook.
She told me I had a brother.
Apologized.
Then:
Do not marry Luca Moretti because anyone asks you to.
Good.
Then:
But meet him before you decide what kind of man his family has made him.
I looked at Luca.
He was staring at floor.
Then final:
He was kind to Matteo when they were boys, even when Vittorio punished him for it.
My mother knew Luca.
How?
She visited Matteo secretly.
Saw Luca from distance.
Maybe spoke once.
Then:
Luca is not his father.
The letter ended.
My chest hurt.
Vittorio looked away.
Then Matteo said:
“Mother wanted us together.”
“Not married,” I corrected.
“Together in the same room.”
“Yes.”
Important.
Then Vittorio coughed hard.
Blood spotted handkerchief.
Elena moved.
He waved away.
“I have perhaps weeks.”
Then he opened a folder.
Succession.
He planned to resign immediately.
Not wait death.
Luca would take legitimate holdings.
Matteo would receive Bennett claim and legal share pending court.
Elena oversight.
Sophia none unless she chose.
Reasonable?
Almost too reasonable.
Then I asked:
“What are you hiding?”
Vittorio smiled.
“Anna’s daughter.”
“That’s me.”
“No.”
The room froze.
“Anna had another daughter.”
Dad stood.
“What?”
Apparently after Matteo, before Sophia, Anna became pregnant again.
Child born and died? No.
Vittorio said:
“She lived.”
Dad whispered:
“Anna told me she miscarried.”
“She lied.”
Why?
The child was fathered by Vittorio.
Silence.
So Anna and Vittorio had an affair years after Matteo adoption?
That would make daughter half-sister to Luca biologically through Vittorio, half-sister to Sophia through Anna.
Where was she?
Vittorio said:
“In this house.”
Everyone looked around.
Then door opened.
House manager Elena? Already sibling Elena. Could be staff woman from staircase? That's Elena Moretti. No.
Maybe Marco? Male.
A woman entered.
Sharp cheekbones.
Same woman who met Sophia at stairs was Elena, known Luca sister. Could she actually be Anna/Vittorio daughter? That would mean Elena is Sophia half sister and Luca half sister. It fits! She was assumed Vittorio's daughter with wife, but actually Anna's daughter. This secret gives Elena stake in Bennett too. Great.
Vittorio looked at Elena.
“Tell them.”
Elena went white.
May you like
Then whispered:
“Anna Bennett was my mother.”
