Chapter 4 - THE MAID'S SECRET
Emma Reed had spent eleven months cleaning the Moretti mansion.
Eleven months carrying breakfast into Luca's study.
Eleven months watching him sit beneath his father's portrait.
And eleven months hiding the truth.
Her name wasn't Emma Reed.
It was Emma Bennett.
Arthur Bennett's granddaughter.
But that wasn't the secret Ward had exposed.
Luca stared at her.
“Gabriel has a daughter?”
Emma pulled her wrist free.
Ward stepped back.
“Perhaps Miss Bennett would prefer to explain.”
Luca ignored him.
“Emma?”
Tears filled her eyes.
“Her name is Lily.”
The room fell silent.
“She turned six last month.”
Luca pressed his hand against the desk.
Six.
His brother had a six-year-old daughter.
A child Luca had never met.
“Where is she?”
Emma looked toward Arthur.
The elderly photographer nodded.
“Tell him.”
Emma took a trembling breath.
“She's safe. She's with my mother.”
Luca struggled to understand.
“How do you know she's Gabriel's?”
Emma reached beneath her uniform collar.
She removed a thin silver chain.
Hanging from it was a tiny gold ring.
Luca recognized it immediately.
His mother's wedding ring.
The one she had given Gabriel shortly before her death.
Gabriel had promised to give it to the woman he married.
Emma placed it on the desk.
“Gabriel gave this to Lily's mother.”
“Who was she?”
“My older sister. Rachel Bennett.”
Arthur lowered his head.
Rachel had worked as a nurse at a private medical facility outside Chicago.
She met Gabriel while he was being treated there.
They fell in love.
And when Rachel discovered she was pregnant, Gabriel tried to leave the facility.
Ward refused to discharge him.
Rachel began gathering evidence that patients were being held without lawful authorization.
Three weeks later, she disappeared.
Emma's voice broke.
“We found Lily with a note. Rachel said Gabriel had been taken somewhere else.”
Luca stared at the ring.
“Where's Rachel now?”
Emma began crying.
“We don't know.”
For six years, Arthur and Emma had searched.
They had contacted attorneys, private investigators, and federal authorities.
But every promising lead vanished.
Then Arthur discovered Antonio Moretti had secretly been investigating the same medical network.
He contacted Emma.
Together, they devised a plan.
Emma would work inside Luca's mansion, where Antonio's records remained.
Arthur would restore the damaged film.
They would reveal everything once they had enough evidence.
Luca looked at Emma.
“You should have told me.”
“I wanted to.”
“Then why didn't you?”
She glanced toward Vanessa, standing under guard near the doorway.
“Because every time I tried, someone was watching.”
Ward chuckled.
“An elaborate story. Unfortunately, none of it proves paternity.”
Luca turned toward him.
“Neither does your forged death certificate prove my brother died.”
Ward's expression tightened.
Caleb approached.
“Boss, we found the funeral footage.”
He turned a laptop toward Luca.
The recording showed the cemetery gates.
Mourners passed beneath a gray winter sky.
Then a tall man appeared.
Dark coat.
Face partly hidden.
He stood beside an old stone wall.
Luca leaned closer.
“Pause.”
Caleb froze the image.
The man looked toward Antonio's coffin.
His right hand rested against the wall.
On his wrist was a silver watch.
Gabriel's watch.
A graduation gift from Luca.
Luca's breath caught.
“That's him.”
Caleb enlarged the image.
The scar above the eyebrow was visible.
The same scar from the photograph sent to Luca's phone.
Luca reached toward the screen.
“Gabriel.”
Ward suddenly said, “That footage doesn't establish anything.”
Luca turned.
“Then you won't mind if I give it to the FBI.”
Ward's eyes narrowed.
“You think federal agents will protect your family?”
“I think they'll be interested in a doctor forging death certificates.”
Ward looked at Emma.
Then Arthur.
And smiled.
“You've all made a terrible mistake.”
Caleb escorted him out, retaining copies of the documents and arranging for law enforcement to receive them. Luca's attorneys had already been contacted.
But before Ward reached the front doors, he stopped.
“Mr. Moretti.”
Luca looked up.
“Your father didn't simply search for Gabriel.”
Ward's smile faded.
“He helped build the place where Gabriel was held.”
The words landed like a physical blow.
Luca followed him into the hallway.
“What did you say?”
Ward turned.
“Ask Arthur about the original photographs.”
Arthur went pale.
Luca looked at him.
“Arthur?”
The old man swallowed.
“There was a reason Antonio hired me.”
“What reason?”
Arthur lowered his eyes.
“Because he owned the lakeside house.”
Luca froze.
His father had always claimed Gabriel disappeared while visiting a friend's property.
Arthur continued.
“Antonio transferred ownership to a private medical foundation before Gabriel vanished.”
“Which foundation?”
Arthur's voice was barely audible.
“The Saint Agnes Foundation.”
Emma gasped.
Luca turned toward her.
“What's wrong?”
Emma's face had gone white.
“That's where Rachel worked.”
She pulled out her phone.
Her mother had sent three missed calls.
And one photograph.
Lily's empty bedroom.
The window was open.
May you like
Below it was a message.
EMMA, SOMEONE TOOK LILY.
