Chapter 3 - The Secret Behind Room 4B
The money had disappeared in less than eleven minutes.
Forty million dollars.
Six transfers.
Three foreign accounts.
And an authorization code that should have been impossible to obtain.
Lorenzo stood in his father's study, listening as his financial director explained the breach.
“The transactions were approved using Giovanni Moretti's digital credentials.”
“My father hasn't touched a computer in five years.”
“I understand.”
“Then somebody forged his authorization.”
The director hesitated.
“Technically, the system recognized the transactions as legitimate.”
Lorenzo slammed his palm against the desk.
“Then your system is worthless.”
Marcus stood beside the door.
“We're tracing the accounts.”
Lorenzo turned toward him.
“Who knew about the trust?”
“Your father. You. His attorney. A small number of senior staff.”
“And Isabella?”
Marcus paused.
“She's listed as a future beneficiary under the marriage agreement.”
Lorenzo went still.
He had signed that agreement three months earlier.
Isabella had insisted it was merely a formality.
A way to combine their families' legitimate business interests.
Now he wondered what else he had signed without reading carefully enough.
Upstairs, Nora was trying to leave.
Her doctor had advised another day of observation, but the mansion felt less like a home than a trap.
She folded Lily's blanket into her suitcase.
A soft knock interrupted her.
“Come in.”
Evelyn entered.
The nurse looked exhausted.
“Mr. Moretti asked me to check on you.”
Nora sighed.
“I'm fine.”
“You were hypothermic yesterday.”
“And today I'm warm.”
Evelyn didn't smile.
Instead, she closed the door.
“Nora, I owe you an apology.”
Nora looked up.
“For what?”
“I knew something was wrong with Giovanni's care.”
The room fell silent.
Evelyn lowered herself into a chair.
“I was hired six weeks ago as a rehabilitation nurse. The agency told me he had severe cognitive impairment and limited awareness.”
“He doesn't.”
“I know that now.”
“Then why didn't you tell Lorenzo?”
“I tried.”
Evelyn opened her tablet.
Three reports appeared on the screen.
Each documented Giovanni's improving eye control, consistent responses, and ability to understand complex instructions.
“I submitted these through the household medical portal.”
Nora scanned the dates.
“Mrs. Gable received them?”
“The portal confirms delivery.”
“Did Lorenzo?”
“No.”
Evelyn swallowed.
“Someone changed the notification settings. Every report went to the household administrator instead of the family.”
Nora stared at her.
“Why would anyone hide that he was getting better?”
Evelyn's face tightened.
“Because an aware patient can tell people what happened to him.”
Later that afternoon, Nora visited room 4B.
Giovanni sat beside the window.
The fireplace burned warmly.
His hair had been combed, and a clean blanket covered his knees.
When Nora entered, his eyes brightened.
She stopped in the doorway.
“Hello, John.”
The communication device clicked softly.
NORA.
Her hand flew to her mouth.
“Oh.”
She approached him slowly.
“You can say my name.”
THANK YOU.
Tears filled her eyes.
“You don't have to thank me.”
Giovanni looked at her stomach.
The device selected another word.
LILY.
Nora laughed through her tears.
“Yes. Lily.”
She sat beside him.
“I was going to leave.”
His eyes shifted quickly.
PLEASE STAY.
Nora swallowed.
“I don't know if I can.”
Giovanni began selecting letters.
The process was slow.
Nora waited.
DANGER.
Her smile disappeared.
“What danger?”
MEDICINE.
She looked toward the cabinet near his bed.
“Your medicine?”
YES.
Nora remembered something.
During her first month at the estate, Giovanni had often become unusually drowsy after his evening medication.
Mrs. Gable claimed it was normal.
But when Nora began bringing him meals earlier, he sometimes remained alert long enough to follow conversations.
She had assumed he was simply having better days.
Now she wasn't so sure.
“Is someone giving you something they shouldn't?”
YES.
Nora's pulse quickened.
“Who?”
Giovanni looked toward the door.
The device began spelling.
B L U E—
Footsteps approached.
Nora turned.
Lorenzo entered.
For a moment, neither spoke.
Then he noticed her expression.
“What happened?”
Nora pointed toward the medication cabinet.
“Your father says someone has been giving him the wrong medicine.”
Lorenzo looked at Giovanni.
“Dad?”
YES.
Lorenzo crossed the room.
He opened the cabinet.
Inside were neatly labeled bottles, blister packs, and a locked medication drawer.
“Who administers these?”
“Mrs. Gable used to supervise,” Evelyn said from the doorway. “Now I do.”
“Since when?”
“Six weeks ago.”
Lorenzo looked at the labels.
“Have the medications changed?”
Evelyn checked her records.
“Not officially.”
Nora stepped closer.
“There used to be a blue bottle.”
Evelyn frowned.
“What blue bottle?”
“Mrs. Gable kept it in the top drawer. She told me it was a vitamin supplement.”
Evelyn opened the drawer.
Empty.
Lorenzo turned toward Marcus, who had followed him upstairs.
“Search the staff quarters. Find that bottle.”
Marcus nodded.
“I'll handle it.”
Giovanni's device suddenly clicked.
NO.
Everyone stopped.
Lorenzo turned.
“What?”
Giovanni's eyes fixed on Marcus.
NOT HIM.
Marcus looked genuinely confused.
“Mr. Moretti?”
The device repeated:
NOT HIM.
Lorenzo's expression hardened.
“Marcus, step outside.”
“Boss—”
“Now.”
Marcus left.
Nora watched the door close.
She had seen fear in Giovanni's eyes before.
But never like that.
An hour later, Lorenzo received the first independent medical assessment.
A specialist had reviewed Giovanni's records and ordered blood testing.
The findings were troubling.
Several previous reports described levels of a sedating medication inconsistent with the treatment plan documented by his neurologist.
The specialist cautioned that the records alone could not establish who administered the drug or whether the doses were deliberate.
But Lorenzo heard only one thing.
Someone might have been keeping his father sedated.
For years.
He sat alone in the study, staring at the medical files.
He remembered visiting Giovanni and finding him asleep.
Remembered Mrs. Gable saying his father was declining.
Remembered signing documents authorizing increased nursing support without questioning the reports.
He had built an empire while his father slowly disappeared inside his own home.
And he had believed every reassuring lie.
That evening, Nora found a folded envelope beneath Giovanni's heated blanket.
Her name was written on the front.
Inside was a photograph.
Giovanni stood beside a younger man in a dark suit.
Both were smiling.
On the back, someone had written:
For the son I never got to raise.
Nora stared at the words.
Then she looked at Giovanni.
“Who is this?”
His eyes moved toward the photograph.
The device began spelling.
MY SON.
Nora frowned.
“Lorenzo?”
NO.
Her heart began pounding.
“You have another son?”
YES.
“Does Lorenzo know?”
Giovanni's eyes filled with tears.
NO.
Nora turned the photograph over again.
Beneath the handwritten message was a date.
Twenty-nine years earlier.
And a name.
MATTEO ROMANO.
The same surname as Lorenzo's fiancée.
Nora slowly looked toward the door.
May you like
Because she had just discovered that the family Lorenzo was preparing to marry into might already be connected to his father by blood.
And somebody had been willing to destroy Giovanni's mind to keep that secret buried.
