Chapter 2 - The Woman Who Was Supposed to Be Dead
Nobody moved.
The string quartet had stopped playing. Conversations had dissolved into whispers, and every guest seemed suddenly interested in the argument unfolding beside the fireplace.
Luca rose slowly.
"Mother, I want the truth. Who is she?"
Elena's fingers tightened around the ring.
"Not here."
"Then where?"
"Somewhere your father cannot hear us."
Luca stared at her.
"My father has been dead for three years."
Elena looked at him with an expression that made his stomach turn.
"Your father is dead, Luca. But the people who helped him keep his secrets aren't."
Vanessa stepped forward.
"Elena, you're upsetting yourself. You should go upstairs."
Luca turned sharply.
"Don't tell my mother what to do."
"I'm only trying to help."
"Then stop talking."
Two security guards exchanged glances. Nobody at the party dared interfere.
Luca handed the ring to his head of security, Marcus Reed.
"Nobody leaves this house. Collect every phone from the staff who entered my mother's bedroom tonight. Preserve the security footage."
Vanessa's face went pale.
"You're treating your own engagement dinner like a criminal investigation."
Luca looked at her.
"Maybe because somebody just brought a dead man's secret back into my house."
He turned to Emily.
"You're coming with us."
Vanessa immediately objected.
"Why her?"
"Because she found it."
Emily lowered her eyes, but Luca noticed her hands trembling.
He leaned closer.
"Did Vanessa threaten you?"
Emily hesitated.
"She wanted the ring before your mother saw it."
Luca looked at his fiancée.
Vanessa laughed nervously.
"That's ridiculous. I was trying to prevent a scene."
"Then explain why you recognized it."
"I didn't."
Elena suddenly spoke.
"Stop lying, Vanessa."
The older woman's voice was weak, but the entire room heard it.
"Your grandmother used to wear that ring."
Vanessa froze.
Luca looked between them.
"How did my father know Vanessa's grandmother?"
Elena closed her eyes.
"Because her grandmother was the reason Alessandro and I almost never married."
A stunned silence followed.
Before Luca could ask another question, Elena clutched her chest.
"Get me out of here."
The nurse rushed forward.
Luca caught his mother's hand.
"Mother?"
"Not another word. Please."
He ordered the guests to leave. Within fifteen minutes, the ballroom was empty except for security, the nurse, and the immediate family.
Vanessa tried to approach him.
"Luca, we need to talk privately."
"We will."
He looked at Marcus.
"Take Miss Hart to the east guest suite. Nobody enters or leaves without my permission."
Vanessa stared at him.
"You're locking me in?"
"Until I know what you knew before tonight, you're not going anywhere."
Her expression changed from fear to fury.
"You'll regret humiliating me."
Luca didn't answer.
He followed his mother upstairs with Emily walking several steps behind.
Inside Elena's bedroom, the old woman asked the nurse to leave.
Then she looked at Emily.
"Come closer, sweetheart."
Emily approached.
Elena studied her face for several seconds.
"What's your mother's name?"
"Margaret Carter."
Elena's breathing stopped.
"Margaret?"
Emily nodded.
"She died when I was twelve."
Elena's eyes filled.
"Did she ever mention a woman named Sofia?"
Emily shook her head.
"No, ma'am. Why?"
Elena looked toward Luca.
"Because your father had two families, and Margaret knew more about them than anyone."
Luca stared at his mother.
"What does Emily's mother have to do with this?"
"Margaret worked for our family before you were born. She was Sofia's personal nurse."
Emily felt the floor shift beneath her.
"My mother was a nurse?"
"Yes. And she helped a woman escape from Alessandro."
Luca leaned forward.
"Which woman?"
Elena looked at the ring in his hand.
"Sofia Bell. Your father's first wife."
Luca went completely still.
"First wife?"
Elena nodded.
"They married in secret. Before he met me."
"Then why did he marry you?"
"Because he told me Sofia had died."
Emily looked down at the ring.
"Then the woman you said was alive is Sofia?"
Elena nodded.
"Your father never stopped looking for her."
Luca turned away, running a hand over his face.
He had spent his entire life believing his father was ruthless but honorable in matters of family. Now he was discovering that the man whose name he carried had built an entire empire on lies.
"Where is she?"
Elena swallowed.
"I don't know. Margaret helped her disappear. But before she died, she sent me something."
"What?"
Elena pointed toward the bedside cabinet.
Inside was an old photograph of a woman holding a newborn baby.
On the back, in faded handwriting, were four words:
October 3. My son.
Luca stared at the photograph.
"Who is the baby?"
Elena began crying.
Before she could answer, Marcus burst into the room.
"Boss, we have a problem."
"What?"
"Vanessa's room is empty."
Luca stood.
"How?"
"Someone opened the east service entrance. And there's something else."
Marcus placed a tablet on the bed.
A security recording showed a man entering the mansion through the underground garage.
Luca recognized him immediately.
His father's former lawyer, Richard Cole.
The man who had signed Alessandro's death certificate.
Marcus enlarged the image.
May you like
Richard was carrying a black envelope.
And the timestamp showed he had entered the mansion eleven minutes before Emily found the ring.
