Chapter 3 - THE FUNERAL WITH THE CLOSED CASKET
I had never seen a powerful man look so helpless.
Luca Moretti sat across from me, staring at his wife's death certificate.
For five months, he'd believed Elena was dead.
Now he was realizing there were details he'd never questioned.
"The funeral was private," he said.
I remained silent.
"Elena's injuries were severe. The doctors advised against viewing her."
"Who arranged everything?"
"My uncle."
I frowned.
"Your uncle?"
"Vittorio Moretti."
Dominic shifted.
Luca noticed immediately.
"What?"
Dominic hesitated.
"Boss, there were questions about the medical report."
Luca slowly turned.
"What questions?"
Dominic looked toward me.
Then lowered his voice.
"The hospital originally listed Elena as critical but stable."
Luca went completely still.
"What?"
"Then the record changed."
I felt cold.
"Changed how?"
Dominic swallowed.
"Her status was updated to deceased before the final physician's report was completed."
Luca stood abruptly.
His chair scraped against the floor.
"You knew?"
Dominic lowered his eyes.
"I raised concerns with Vittorio."
"And?"
"He told me the matter was private."
Luca stared.
For the first time, I understood something about the Moretti family.
Everyone was afraid to question the man in charge.
Even when the answers mattered.
Luca looked toward me.
"How much did your mother tell you about Elena?"
I thought carefully.
"Not much."
"Anything about her work?"
"She studied medicine."
His expression changed.
"She was a nurse."
I nodded.
"Mom said she wanted to help people."
Luca looked away.
Elena had worked with a medical charity funded by the Moretti family.
She visited private clinics.
Helped immigrant patients.
Translated medical documents.
And often argued with Luca about the family's business connections.
I watched his expression.
"Did you fight?"
He gave a bitter laugh.
"Constantly."
"About what?"
"She believed some of our charitable operations were being misused."
My stomach tightened.
"Did you investigate?"
Luca lowered his head.
"No."
The honesty surprised me.
He continued.
"I told her my uncle handled the finances."
I stared.
"And you trusted him."
"Yes."
For several seconds, neither spoke.
Then I looked toward Elena's photograph.
My sister had been trying to expose something.
Something dangerous.
And now she was supposedly dead.
I thought about the necklace.
The way Leo reached for it.
The way Luca went pale.
"Why did Leo recognize this pendant?"
Luca looked toward me.
"Elena wore one exactly like it."
"Exactly?"
"Yes."
I frowned.
"My mother gave me this when I turned twenty-one."
Luca's expression sharpened.
"Twenty-one?"
I nodded.
"Six years ago."
He looked down.
"Elena already had hers."
A terrible possibility formed.
"Then there were two."
Luca stared.
I unclasped the necklace.
The pendant was scratched along one edge.
My mother had always told me never to open it.
I'd assumed it was simply damaged.
Now I noticed a tiny seam.
"Do you have something sharp?"
Dominic handed me a small paper knife.
I carefully worked it beneath the edge.
The pendant opened.
Inside was a folded piece of paper.
Smaller than my thumbnail.
My hands began trembling.
I unfolded it.
Three words were written in my mother's handwriting.
Find the second daughter.
I stared.
Luca leaned forward.
"What does it say?"
I showed him.
His expression changed.
Then I noticed something else.
A tiny date beneath the words.
The day Elena supposedly died.
My breath caught.
Mom had given me this necklace six years earlier.
But the paper inside had been placed there only five months ago.
Someone had opened my pendant.
Someone who knew where I lived.
Someone who knew my mother's handwriting.
Luca looked toward Dominic.
"Find out who had access to Avery's apartment."
I stared at the paper.
Then whispered:
"There's only one person who could have put this here."
Luca looked up.
"Who?"
My voice trembled.
"My mother."
He frowned.
"Where is she?"
I swallowed.
May you like
Then said the words that changed everything.
"She disappeared three weeks ago."
