Chapter 4 - THE DEAD BROTHER CAME HOME
By breakfast, nobody in the Moretti mansion trusted anyone.
Luca had doubled security.
Vanessa had surrendered her phone.
Teresa barely spoke.
And I was beginning to understand that the blanket had only been the first thread.
Someone had pulled it.
Now the whole family was coming apart.
Luca summoned me to his study at nine.
I stood across from his desk.
“You’re not in trouble.”
“That usually means someone is about to tell me I am.”
The corner of his mouth moved.
Almost a smile.
Then it vanished.
“My mother trusts you.”
“I care about her.”
“Why?”
The question surprised me.
“Because she’s kind.”
“That simple?”
“Yes.”
Luca studied me.
Most people probably looked away when he did that.
I didn’t.
Finally he said, “Vanessa claims you’ve been turning my mother against her.”
“She doesn’t need my help.”
His eyes sharpened.
“Explain.”
I told him everything.
How Vanessa had moved Teresa’s clothes without permission.
How she had limited which rooms Teresa could use during event preparations.
How she had instructed staff not to “encourage the old woman’s dramatics.”
How Teresa’s bed disappeared.
Luca’s jaw tightened with every sentence.
“Why did no one tell me?”
“Because everyone here is afraid of being fired.”
“You?”
“Yes.”
His gaze dropped briefly.
“Yet you’re telling me now.”
“Your mother matters more than my job.”
Something changed in his expression.
Before he could answer, Marco entered.
“We traced the photo.”
Adrian had flown from Zurich to Toronto under another name.
Then crossed into the United States by car.
Luca stood.
“Where is he now?”
Marco hesitated.
“Chicago.”
Teresa appeared in the doorway.
“How do you know?”
Marco looked at Luca.
Then placed a second photograph on the desk.
Taken the previous night.
Adrian stood outside the Moretti family chapel.
Teresa pressed a hand to her mouth.
Luca swore.
“Why would he come back now?”
Vanessa’s voice answered from the hallway.
“Because he wants what belongs to him.”
Everyone turned.
She stood between two guards.
Luca’s face became ice.
“You were told to remain upstairs.”
“I’m tired of being treated like a prisoner.”
“You forged my signature.”
“I didn’t.”
“Then who did?”
Vanessa looked toward Teresa.
“Ask her.”
Teresa recoiled.
Luca stepped forward.
“Careful.”
Vanessa laughed nervously.
“You think your mother is some helpless old woman? Teresa knows exactly why Adrian is back.”
Teresa whispered, “Stop.”
Vanessa’s smile widened.
“She knows because she’s been sending him money.”
Silence.
Luca slowly turned toward his mother.
“Is that true?”
Teresa did not answer.
That was answer enough.
Then Marco’s phone rang.
He listened.
His face hardened.
“Boss.”
“What?”
“The man at the front gate says his name is Adrian Moretti.”
Teresa began to cry.
May you like
Marco continued.
“And he says he won’t come inside unless Hannah Collins comes out alone.”
