Chapter 5 – The Missing Rosary

Vanessa’s face drained of all color.

She looked from me, holding the forged deed, to Luca, who was staring at her with the cold, dead eyes of a predator.

“Luca,” Vanessa stammered, instantly trying to mold her expression into one of innocent shock. “Darling, what are you doing out there in the rain? This maid just broke into your father’s safe!”

She pointed a trembling finger at me.

“She forged your mother’s signature! I caught her trying to steal the deed!”

Luca didn’t blink.

He didn’t yell.

He simply walked across the room, past Vanessa, and stood directly beside me.

He reached out and gently took the deed from my shaking hands.

He looked at the fresh ink of his mother’s forged name, then slowly turned his gaze back to his fiancée.

“You’re a terrible liar, Vanessa,” Luca said, his voice terrifyingly calm. “And you’re an even worse strategist.”

Vanessa backed up until she hit the heavy wooden desk.

“I heard everything,” Luca continued, stepping toward her. “I heard you admit Adrian forged it. I heard you threaten Sophie’s family. And I know you tried to hand my daughter over to Dominic Romano tonight.”

At the mention of Lily, Vanessa’s mask completely shattered.

Her eyes darted frantically toward the locked door.

“Silas!” Vanessa screamed, calling for her bodyguard.

“Silas is currently bleeding out in an alley near the docks,” Luca lied smoothly, though I knew Silas had run away after Marco stabbed him. “He gave you up, Vanessa. He told me everything.”

Vanessa’s chest heaved. The polished, elegant woman was gone, replaced by a cornered, desperate animal.

“You have nothing!” Vanessa spat, her voice turning shrill. “You have a piece of paper! Dominic Romano already controls your offshore accounts! I transferred the liquid assets this afternoon while you were busy trying to play the perfect son downstairs!”

Answer one: Vanessa had already drained the accounts.

Open two: How did she bypass the bank’s security protocols, and what was her ultimate leverage?

Luca’s jaw clenched. “The bank requires dual authorization for wire transfers.”

Vanessa threw her head back and laughed. It was a cold, manic sound.

“I didn’t need your authorization, Luca.”

She reached down into the neckline of her red gown and pulled out a long, silver chain.

Dangling from the end of it was an ornate, silver rosary.

My breath hitched.

I recognized that rosary.

It had belonged to Elena. Lily’s mother. It was the only piece of jewelry Elena had worn every single day until she died.

Luca froze. His eyes locked onto the silver cross.

“Where did you get that?” Luca’s voice was suddenly hollow, stripped of all its lethal confidence.

“Your brother gave it to me,” Vanessa smiled, twisting the silver chain around her manicured fingers. “He gave me the account codes, and he gave me this.”

“Why would Adrian give you his dead sister-in-law’s rosary?” I asked, stepping forward, unable to stay silent.

Vanessa looked at me with pure venom.

“Because,” Vanessa sneered, turning her gaze back to Luca to deliver the killing blow, “Adrian feels guilty. Doesn’t he, Luca? He feels so incredibly guilty about how your perfect, fragile wife died.”

A reversal.

The official story was that Elena had died of a sudden, undetectable heart defect in her sleep.

“Elena was sick for months, Luca,” Vanessa whispered, her voice dripping with cruel satisfaction. “She had chest pains. She begged Adrian to drive her to the hospital the night she died because you were away on business. But Adrian was drunk. He told her to sleep it off.”

Tears welled in Luca’s eyes. He took a step back, the betrayal hitting him harder than any bullet could.

“No,” Luca whispered.

“Yes,” Vanessa smiled. “Adrian let her die. And when I found out, I told him I would tell you. Unless he did exactly what I said.”

She held the rosary up to the light.

“I own this family now, Luca. If you touch me, I will ruin your brother, and Dominic Romano will ruin you.”

Suddenly, the heavy wooden door of the study rattled violently.

Someone was trying to open it from the hallway.

“Luca!” a voice shouted from the other side.

It was Adrian.

He pounded his fists against the thick mahogany.

“Luca, open the door! I know she’s in there!”

Vanessa’s smile faltered.

Luca stared at the door, then at the woman holding his dead wife’s rosary.

He walked over and turned the deadbolt.

Adrian burst into the room.

He looked terrible. His suit was disheveled, his tie undone, and his eyes were red-rimmed with fresh tears.

He saw Vanessa standing by the desk, holding the rosary.

“You witch,” Adrian sobbed, rushing toward her.

Luca grabbed his brother by the shoulders, stopping him before he could reach her.

“Is it true?” Luca demanded, his voice shaking with a rage so profound it made the air in the room vibrate. “Did you let my wife die?”

Adrian looked at his older brother, the guilt of six years finally breaking him completely.

He fell to his knees on the hardwood floor.

“I didn’t know she was really sick, Luca,” Adrian wept, burying his face in his hands. “I thought it was a panic attack. I was drunk. I was so stupid. I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.”

Luca stared down at his brother, his chest heaving.

Vanessa laughed.

“How touching,” she sneered. “A family reunion. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have a plane to catch.”

She took a step toward the door.

But she made one fatal mistake.

She turned her back to the desk.

Without hesitating, I grabbed the heavy, forged deed from where Luca had set it down.

I didn’t hand it to Luca.

I walked directly to the roaring fireplace.

And I threw the parchment straight into the flames.