Chapter 12 - THE AUNT WHO WAS NEVER FAMILY
Adrienne Duca had spent forty years calling Victoria his aunt.
She attended his birthdays.
Managed family investments.
Sat beside him at funerals.
And advised him after his father died.
Now Clare was holding a letter claiming Victoria wasn't related to him at all.
She called Rebecca immediately.
Within hours, the attorney arranged a meeting with Detective Mitchell.
The letter and supporting documents were examined carefully.
The evidence suggested that Victoria's original name was Veronica Vale.
She had entered the Duca household years earlier using altered identity records.
Her relationship to Vincent Duca had been deliberately misrepresented.
Clare stared at the documents.
"Why would she pretend to be his sister?"
Rebecca opened another file.
"To gain access to the family trust."
Detective Mitchell nodded.
"The records indicate Vincent's actual sister, Victoria Duca, died as a young woman. Veronica later used her identity."
Clare felt sick.
For decades, an outsider had controlled the Duca family's finances while pretending to be one of them.
"Did Vincent know?" she asked.
Mitchell shook her head.
"We haven't established that."
Clare looked toward the window.
"And Adrienne?"
Rebecca answered quietly.
"He appears to have believed the identity she presented."
That evening, Clare agreed to meet Adrienne at Rebecca's office.
He arrived looking exhausted.
His face had lost weight.
Dark shadows rested beneath his eyes.
When Clare entered, he stood immediately.
"Clare."
She nodded.
"Sit down."
He obeyed.
Rebecca placed the documents between them.
Adrienne read the first page.
Then the second.
Then the third.
His expression changed from confusion to disbelief.
"Victoria isn't my aunt?"
Clare shook her head.
"No."
He stared at the records.
"Then who is she?"
"A woman named Veronica Vale."
Adrienne closed his eyes.
For forty years, he'd trusted someone who had built her entire identity on a lie.
He looked toward Clare.
"She helped raise me."
Clare's expression softened despite everything.
"I know."
"She was there when my father died."
"I know."
"She told me my mother abandoned us."
Clare froze.
"What?"
Adrienne looked up.
"My mother disappeared when I was seven. Victoria said she left because she couldn't handle our family's life."
Rebecca slowly turned another page.
Her expression changed.
"Adrienne."
He looked at her.
"What?"
"We found an old missing-person report."
His jaw tightened.
"About my mother?"
Rebecca nodded.
"Her name was Elena Duca."
Adrienne stared.
"That's right."
Rebecca continued.
"She was last seen entering a private medical facility."
Clare felt a chill.
"Who owned it?"
Rebecca looked down.
Then answered:
"Veronica Vale."
Adrienne stopped breathing.
For thirty-three years, he'd believed his mother abandoned him.
Now there was evidence she'd been taken somewhere connected to the woman who raised him.
He looked at Clare.
His voice broke.
"She did to me what she did to you."
Clare swallowed.
For one terrible moment, she saw the frightened child beneath her husband's powerful exterior.
Then Detective Mitchell's phone rang.
She listened carefully.
Her expression changed.
"We located Veronica Vale."
Adrienne stood.
"Where?"
Mitchell hesitated.
"At a private residence in northern New York."
"Is she alone?"
"No."
The detective looked directly at him.
"She's living with a woman registered as Elena Moretti."
Adrienne went perfectly still.
May you like
Then Mitchell said the words that shattered him.
"We believe Elena Moretti may be your mother."
