Chapter 9 - THE WOMAN AT THE BIRTHDAY TABLE
“ELIZABETH WARD WAS INSIDE THIS HOUSE LAST NIGHT.”
Luca stood so abruptly that his chair fell backward.
“Clara, are you sure?”
She nodded.
“I served her champagne.”
Victor rose slowly.
“What did she look like?”
“Dark hair. Green eyes. Maybe fifty-five or sixty. She had a small scar beneath her chin.”
Victor covered his mouth.
“Elizabeth.”
Luca turned toward Caleb.
“Get the guest list.”
Caleb opened his laptop.
Within seconds, a list appeared.
Eighty-four invited guests.
Seventy-nine had attended.
Luca scanned the names.
There was no Elizabeth Ward.
Clara moved beside him.
“She was sitting at the third table, near the windows.”
Caleb pulled up the seating chart.
“Table three.”
He read the names.
“Robert Sterling. Daniel Mercer. Eleanor Price. Jonathan Blake. Margaret Collins. And two empty seats.”
Clara pointed.
“Eleanor Price.”
Luca frowned.
“Who is she?”
Caleb checked the invitation records.
“Listed as a representative of the Sterling Foundation.”
Victor closed his eyes.
“Eleanor was Elizabeth's middle name.”
Luca felt his stomach tighten.
Robert had brought a woman he supposedly believed dead to Luca's birthday dinner.
Why?
Clara remembered something else.
“She asked me whether Mr. Miller had arrived.”
Luca turned.
“What?”
“She asked about the gardener before he came inside.”
“Did she say his name?”
“Yes.”
Victor gripped the desk.
“Elizabeth knew about the box.”
Luca looked at Caleb.
“Find her.”
Caleb began searching.
But Clara was still thinking.
“The woman looked nervous when I told her Mr. Miller hadn't arrived.”
Luca frowned.
“Did she leave before the box was opened?”
Clara shook her head.
“She was still there when Vanessa screamed.”
“Then where did she go?”
Clara hesitated.
“I saw her leave through the side corridor while everyone was watching you.”
Luca looked toward the door.
“The corridor leading to my father's study.”
Caleb was already moving.
They searched the study.
Nothing appeared disturbed.
Then Clara noticed a faint mark in the dust beneath Antonio's desk.
She knelt.
“Someone moved this.”
Luca frowned.
“The desk?”
“No. The floor panel.”
Antonio's study had been renovated decades earlier.
A narrow strip of dark wood ran beneath the desk.
Clara pressed it.
The panel lifted.
Inside was a small leather envelope.
Luca stared.
“I've lived in this house my entire life.”
Victor smiled sadly.
“Your father was very good at hiding things.”
Luca opened the envelope.
Inside was a folded document.
A handwritten statement.
Dated fifteen years earlier.
Signed by Elizabeth Ward.
Luca began reading.
I, Elizabeth Eleanor Ward, witnessed Robert Sterling threaten the life of an infant child unless Antonio Moretti agreed to sign the attached property-transfer agreement.
Luca's chest tightened.
He continued.
Antonio signed under duress. Daniel Mercer was present and knew the threats were being made.
There was more.
Robert told Antonio that if he contacted the authorities, the child would be killed before any investigation could begin.
Luca lowered the page.
His hands were shaking.
“My father signed to save a baby.”
Victor nodded.
“He thought he could reverse the transfers once the child was safe.”
Luca stared at the signature.
For years, he had believed Antonio was an uncompromising man.
Now he understood something else.
His father had been willing to let people call him weak rather than let a child die.
Clara wiped her eyes.
“Where's the baby now?”
Victor looked away.
“I don't know.”
Luca turned the page.
A second statement was attached.
This one was written by Antonio.
Elizabeth, if you survive, tell my son that I made this choice willingly. Not because Robert defeated me, but because an innocent child's life was worth more than every property I owned.
Luca stopped reading.
His vision blurred.
For six years, he'd carried anger toward his father.
Anger that Antonio had died without explaining the family's financial collapse.
Anger that he'd left Luca to rebuild what remained.
Now Luca realized Antonio had been trying to protect someone until his final days.
He sat slowly.
Clara placed a hand on his shoulder.
For a moment, Luca didn't move.
Then he whispered:
“I wish he'd told me.”
Victor's voice was gentle.
“He wanted to.”
“Why didn't he?”
“Because Robert still had people watching the child.”
Luca looked up.
“Even after all those years?”
Victor nodded.
“Antonio believed the danger would pass once he could prove who was behind the transfers.”
“But he died first.”
“Yes.”
Luca stared at the letter.
“Did Robert kill him?”
Victor hesitated.
“I don't know.”
Luca looked at him sharply.
“Tell me what you do know.”
Victor leaned forward.
“Antonio called me three days before he died. He said he'd found proof that someone had interfered with his medication.”
Thomas went pale.
Luca felt a cold sensation spread through his chest.
“My father died of a heart attack.”
“That was the official finding.”
“Are you saying he was poisoned?”
“I'm saying he was afraid someone was trying to make him sick.”
Luca stood.
“Why didn't you report it?”
“I tried. Daniel Mercer told me the medical examiner had found nothing suspicious. I had no independent evidence.”
Luca stared at him.
“Daniel controlled everything.”
Victor nodded.
“And Robert controlled Daniel.”
Clara looked at Antonio's portrait.
The old man's expression seemed different now.
Less stern.
More tired.
Then Caleb's phone rang.
He answered.
“Ross.”
He listened.
His expression changed.
“Where?”
Another pause.
“We're on our way.”
Luca turned.
“What happened?”
Caleb looked at him.
“We found Eleanor Price.”
“Where?”
“At a small motel in Queens.”
“Is she safe?”
Caleb hesitated.
“She called the FBI herself.”
Luca frowned.
“Why?”
“She says she has evidence against Robert Sterling.”
Victor closed his eyes.
“Thank God.”
Caleb wasn't finished.
“She also says she won't speak to anyone until Vanessa Sterling is present.”
Luca stared.
“Vanessa?”
Caleb nodded.
“And she specifically asked for Clara Hayes.”
Clara went still.
“Me?”
“Yes.”
Luca looked at Victor.
“Why would she want Clara?”
Victor's expression darkened.
“Because Elizabeth knew Margaret.”
An hour later, Luca, Clara, Vanessa, and Sarah Whitcomb entered a federal interview room.
Elizabeth Ward sat at a metal table.
Her dark hair was streaked with gray.
The scar beneath her chin was unmistakable.
Vanessa stopped in the doorway.
“Aunt Elizabeth?”
Elizabeth looked up.
Her eyes filled with tears.
“Hello, sweetheart.”
Vanessa covered her mouth.
“You're alive?”
Elizabeth nodded.
Robert had told Vanessa that her aunt died in a car accident when she was a teenager.
Vanessa sank into a chair.
“Daddy said you were dead.”
“I know.”
“Why?”
Elizabeth looked toward Luca.
“Because I knew what he did.”
Luca sat across from her.
“Then tell us.”
Elizabeth took a trembling breath.
“Robert discovered Evelyn had given birth to Samuel Hayes's daughter. He used that child to force Antonio to sign the agreement.”
“We know that much,” Luca said.
Elizabeth nodded.
“But there's something you don't know.”
She looked at Vanessa.
“Your father never stopped searching for that girl.”
Vanessa began shaking.
“Why?”
“Because Samuel had arranged for a trust to be established in his daughter's name. Some of the stolen assets can be traced through that trust.”
Luca frowned.
“So Robert needs her identity.”
Elizabeth nodded.
“He wants to control the inheritance. And he wants to know whether she has Samuel's records.”
Clara leaned forward.
“Did my mother know where the girl was?”
Elizabeth looked at her.
“Yes.”
“Did she tell you?”
Elizabeth hesitated.
“She told me shortly before she died.”
Clara's heart pounded.
“Then where is she?”
Elizabeth began crying.
“Margaret made me promise I wouldn't reveal her identity until Robert could no longer hurt her.”
Luca looked at Sarah.
“Can we protect her?”
Sarah nodded cautiously.
“We can work with federal authorities to arrange protection, but Elizabeth needs to provide the information to investigators.”
Elizabeth looked toward the door.
“I've already told Agent Collins where to find the original birth and placement records.”
Clara felt relief.
Finally, something real.
Something that could be verified.
Then Elizabeth turned toward Vanessa.
“There's one more thing.”
Vanessa wiped her cheeks.
“What?”
Elizabeth's voice trembled.
“Your father didn't introduce you to Luca by accident.”
Vanessa stared.
“I know.”
Luca turned sharply.
“What?”
Vanessa began crying.
“I found out last year.”
Luca felt the room grow cold.
“You knew he arranged our relationship?”
“No. Not at first.”
“Then what did you find out?”
Vanessa looked at Elizabeth.
“Daddy told me I had to marry Luca before his fortieth birthday.”
Luca froze.
“Why?”
Elizabeth closed her eyes.
“Because of Antonio's trust.”
Sarah leaned forward.
“What about it?”
Elizabeth looked directly at Luca.
“Antonio amended the trust before he died. On your fortieth birthday, control of the remaining assets would pass fully to you.”
Luca stared.
“And if I married Vanessa?”
Elizabeth swallowed.
“Robert planned to persuade you to sign a marital property agreement that would give Vanessa's family company management rights over certain trust investments.”
Vanessa shook her head.
“I never agreed to that.”
Elizabeth nodded.
“I believe you.”
Luca looked at Vanessa.
“Did you know about the agreement?”
“Daddy sent me a draft. I refused to give it to you.”
Luca's voice hardened.
“Why didn't you tell me?”
“Because he threatened to expose something about my mother.”
“What?”
Vanessa looked at Elizabeth.
Her aunt began crying.
Then Vanessa whispered:
“He said my mother wasn't dead when they buried her.”
Luca stared.
Elizabeth shook her head.
“No, Vanessa.”
Vanessa turned.
“What?”
Elizabeth reached across the table.
“Your mother died in the hospital. I was there.”
Vanessa began sobbing.
“Then why would he tell me that?”
“Because he knew you loved her. And he knew that lie would control you.”
Vanessa covered her face.
For three years, Robert had used her grief.
Her guilt.
Her longing for a mother she'd lost.
Luca watched her break down.
He was still furious.
But he could finally see how much damage Robert had done to his own daughter.
Elizabeth looked at Luca.
“There is something else you need to know.”
He turned.
“What?”
“Robert didn't simply choose Vanessa because she was his daughter.”
“Then why?”
Elizabeth looked toward Clara.
Her face changed.
“Because Robert discovered that Margaret Hayes had left something inside the Moretti mansion.”
Clara felt her stomach tighten.
“The music box?”
Elizabeth shook her head.
“No.”
“Then what?”
Elizabeth's voice dropped.
“THE ORIGINAL DEED TO THE PROPERTY WHERE SAMUEL HID THE FIRST STOLEN FORTUNE.”
Luca leaned forward.
“Where is it?”
Elizabeth looked toward Vanessa.
May you like
Then whispered:
“IT WAS SEWN INTO THE LINING OF HER MOTHER'S WEDDING DRESS.”
