Chapter 2 – THE STOLEN KEEPSAKE IN THE PURSE
“You lying little brat!” Vanessa screamed, her manicured hands reaching for my uniform.
Before she could touch me, Luca stepped between us.
His presence was like a concrete wall. He didn’t raise his hands, but the sheer fury radiating from him made Vanessa freeze in her tracks.
“Matteo,” Luca said, never taking his eyes off his fiancée. “Go to the foyer. Bring me her purse.”
“Luca, you can’t do this!” Vanessa gasped, her chest heaving. “You’re going to search my belongings because of a jealous housemaid? She’s trying to ruin our wedding!”
“If there’s nothing in the bag, you have nothing to worry about,” Luca said coldly.
Noah was clinging to my apron now. The little boy had abandoned his chair and run to me, hiding his face in the folds of my black skirt. I gently rested my hand on his head, stroking his hair to calm him down.
A moment later, Matteo returned.
He was holding a black leather Chanel handbag.
“Open it,” Luca commanded.
Matteo unclasped the gold latch. He reached inside and pulled out a sleek leather wallet, a compact mirror, and a set of car keys.
Then, his hand paused.
He reached deeper into the silk lining.
When Matteo pulled his hand out, a collective gasp echoed across the dining room.
Dangling from a silver chain in his fingers was an antique pocket watch. It was tarnished around the edges, with beautiful, intricate engravings of ivy leaves.
Luca’s breath hitched.
He stepped forward and took the watch from Matteo’s hands.
His thumbs traced the engraved leaves. He pressed the latch, and the watch popped open. Inside, on the left panel, was a tiny photograph of Luca and Claire on their wedding day.
“You kept it,” Luca whispered, staring at the watch. His voice wasn’t angry anymore; it was broken. “You stole my dead wife’s gift to our son, and you’ve been carrying it around like a trophy?”
Vanessa’s lips trembled. She looked around the room, realizing fifty of Chicago’s most elite citizens were staring at her with disgust.
“Luca, please,” she stammered, changing her tone to a desperate plea. “I didn’t steal it! I found it! I found it in the hospital storage a month ago. I was going to give it to him for his birthday tonight. I swear!”
I looked at the watch in Luca’s hand.
“That’s not true,” I said quietly.
Vanessa whipped her head toward me. “Shut your mouth!”
“Emily,” Luca said, turning to me. “What is it?”
I gently stepped away from Noah, moving closer to the table. “Sir, if she found it in the hospital storage a month ago… why is the hospital admission band tucked inside the chain?”
Luca frowned. He flipped the watch over.
Tangled tightly around the base of the silver chain was a faded white plastic hospital bracelet.
Luca carefully untangled it.
He held it up to the light.
His face drained of color.
“This isn’t Claire’s bracelet,” Luca said slowly.
He looked up, his eyes locking onto Vanessa with a terrifying intensity.
“The patient name on this bracelet is yours, Vanessa.”
Vanessa took a stumbling step backward.
“And the date,” Luca continued, reading the faded black ink, “is October 14th. Three days after Claire passed away. You checked yourself into that hospital as a patient.”
Nobody breathed.
“Why?” Luca demanded, his voice echoing in the large room. “Why were you admitted to the hospital three days after my wife died, and why was her stolen watch attached to your wristband?”
Vanessa opened her mouth, but no words came out.
Suddenly, Noah tugged on Luca’s sleeve.
“Daddy,” the little boy said softly.
Luca knelt down instantly. “What is it, buddy?”
Noah pointed at the plastic bracelet.
“That’s the bracelet Vanessa was wearing when she came to Mommy’s room that night,” Noah whispered. “The night Mommy went to sleep and never woke up.”
Luca froze.
He looked at his nine-year-old son, his entire world crashing down.
“Noah,” Luca breathed out. “Vanessa wasn’t in Mommy’s room that night. Only the nurses were.”
Noah shook his head stubbornly.
“No, Daddy. Vanessa was there. She gave Mommy her medicine. And then she told me to hide.”
