Chapter 9 – THE SUNLIGHT IN THE HALLS

It had been three weeks since Vanessa was dragged out of the Moretti mansion.

The house felt fundamentally different.

The heavy velvet curtains Vanessa had insisted on keeping drawn were thrown wide open. Sunlight poured across the marble floors. The tense, suffocating atmosphere that had haunted the hallways for almost a year was entirely gone.

I didn’t wear a black and white uniform anymore.

I was wearing a soft cream sweater and jeans, sitting at the massive kitchen island, helping Noah with his math homework.

“If a train leaves Chicago at 6 AM traveling sixty miles per hour…” Noah muttered, chewing on the end of his pencil.

“Draw the track, buddy,” Luca said, walking into the kitchen.

He was dressed in a casual grey Henley shirt, his dark hair slightly messy. He looked ten years younger. The dark circles under his eyes had finally faded.

Luca walked over and placed a large, thick envelope on the counter in front of me.

“What’s this?” I asked.

“Your life back,” Luca smiled.

I opened the envelope. Inside was an official letter from the State Nursing Board. My expulsion had been expunged. My clinical hours were reinstated. The hospital had settled the wrongful termination lawsuit for a sum so large my mother had fainted when I told her.

“Luca, this is… I can’t believe it’s real,” I whispered, tracing the gold seal on the paper.

“You earned it, Emily. You never deserved what happened to you.”

He poured two cups of coffee and slid one across the marble island toward me. Our fingers brushed against each other.

A sudden jolt of electricity shot up my arm.

I looked up, and I caught Luca staring at me. There was a depth in his dark eyes that hadn’t been there before. A quiet, steady admiration that made my cheeks flush.

“Dad!” Noah complained, tapping his pencil. “The train is moving!”

Luca laughed, tearing his eyes away from me to look at the homework. “Right. The train.”

As they worked on the math problem, I walked into the living room to put away a stack of Noah’s books.

When I reached the bookshelf, I noticed a small, beautifully carved wooden box sitting on the top shelf. I had dusted this shelf a hundred times as a maid, but I had never seen this box before.

It was unlocked.

I opened it carefully.

Inside lay Claire’s blue knitted shawl, her silver rosary, and a small stack of Polaroid photographs.

I picked up the photos. They were beautiful, candid shots of Luca and Claire holding a newborn Noah.

But at the bottom of the box, there was one more envelope.

It wasn’t addressed to Luca or Noah.

It was addressed: To the woman who comes after me.

My breath caught in my throat.

“I found that yesterday,” Luca’s deep voice said softly from the doorway.

I jumped, nearly dropping the box.

Luca walked slowly into the room. “I was clearing out the last of Vanessa’s things from the guest room, and I found it shoved behind a drawer. Vanessa must have hidden it, but she was too afraid to throw it away.”

“Have you read it?” I asked, my voice trembling.

Luca shook his head.

“No,” he said, stepping closer. “It’s not addressed to me.”

He reached out and gently touched my hand.

“I think you should open it, Emily.”