Chapter 6 – THE LAWYER’S SECRET CONFESSION

“I’m not doing anything for you,” I said, my voice shaking but resolute. “You poisoned an innocent old woman. You belong in a cell.”

“Hannah, you stupid girl!” Vanessa shrieked through the phone. “The photograph isn’t about the money! It’s about his first wife! It’s about Elena!”

The name hit me like a physical blow.

Elena Moretti. Daniel’s mother. She had died in a tragic car accident ten years ago when Daniel was only four. It was the tragedy that had turned Luca into the cold, guarded man he was today.

“What about Elena?” I demanded.

Before Vanessa could answer, I heard a loud crash through the phone, followed by a man’s shout. The line went dead.

I stared at my phone, my heart racing.

I had to tell Luca.

I ran out to the living room and grabbed the secure landline the guards had pointed out to me. I dialed Luca’s direct number. He answered on the first ring.

“Are you all safe?” Luca asked immediately.

“We’re safe, Mr. Moretti. But Vanessa just called my cell phone. She told me about a safe in her dressing room at the mansion. She said there’s a photograph inside concerning your late wife.”

I heard the sharp intake of breath on the other end of the line.

“I’m in her dressing room right now,” Luca said, his voice terrifyingly calm. “We just brought Arthur back. He’s singing like a bird. He admitted they’ve been siphoning millions for three years.”

“Vanessa said Mrs. Moretti knows the combination to the safe,” I told him.

“Hold on.”

I waited, listening to the muffled sounds of Luca shouting an order. A minute later, he was back on the line.

“Hannah, wake my mother. Ask her for the numbers.”

I hated waking Teresa, but I knew I had to. I hurried into the bedroom. Teresa was awake, staring at the ceiling.

“Mrs. Moretti,” I whispered gently. “Luca needs to know the combination to Vanessa’s safe.”

Teresa didn’t hesitate. She had always possessed a razor-sharp memory, even through the haze of the drugs.

“0-4-1-8,” she said clearly. “April 18th.”

I relayed the numbers to Luca.

“April 18th,” Luca muttered over the phone. “The day my wife died.”

I heard the beeping of a keypad, followed by a heavy metallic click.

“I’m opening it,” Luca said.

Silence stretched over the phone line. Ten seconds. Twenty seconds.

“Mr. Moretti?” I asked nervously.

When Luca finally spoke, his voice didn’t sound angry. It sounded completely shattered.

“Hannah,” Luca whispered. “The woman I was about to marry… she’s already married.”

“What?” I gasped.

“The photograph in the safe,” Luca said slowly. “It’s a wedding photo. Vanessa in a white dress. But she’s not standing next to Arthur.”

“Who is she standing next to?”

“Victor,” Luca said. “Vanessa and Victor are husband and wife.”

My mind spun. The man she claimed was her cousin, the man she brought around the house, the man she allowed to chase Daniel down the stairs—he was her husband. The entire engagement to Luca was a calculated, long-term con.

“And that’s not the worst part,” Luca continued, his voice trembling with a rage so deep it vibrated through the phone.

“What is it?” I asked, terrified of the answer.

“Arthur just confessed why they picked April 18th as the code,” Luca said.

I waited, holding my breath.

“Because Vanessa was driving the truck that hit Elena’s car ten years ago.”

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