Chapter 5 – The Coat With The Missing Button
The silence in the room was suffocating.
“How long?” Luca asked, his voice completely broken.
“Six months ago, the doctors gave me a year,” Sarah whispered. “But without the trust money for the treatments… it moved faster.”
“Why didn’t you reach out to me?” Luca begged. “Why didn’t you fight them?”
Sarah looked at Leo, who was peeking around my legs.
“Because Michael showed me pictures of Leo playing in the park. He said if I ever contacted you, an accident would happen to my little boy. Just like the accident that happened to me.”
Teresa let out a sob of pure agony. “My own son. A monster.”
“We’re leaving,” Luca said, standing up. His grief instantly morphed into a hardened, terrifying resolve. “Hannah, pack their things. You’re all coming home with me.”
I nodded and moved to the small closet.
As I pulled out a heavy winter coat for Sarah, my hand brushed against something hard in the pocket.
I pulled it out.
It was a thick, sealed envelope. The wax seal on the back bore the Moretti family crest.
“Mr. Moretti,” I said softly, holding it up.
Luca took the envelope. “Where did you get this, Sarah?”
“Your father gave it to me,” she said, her breathing shallow. “Eight years ago. He came to the hospital after the crash. He was crying. He said he couldn’t stop Michael without destroying the family, but he promised he would protect us.”
Luca broke the seal.
Inside was a single handwritten page and a small brass key.
Luca read the letter in silence. As his eyes scanned the page, his posture straightened. The broken man disappeared, replaced entirely by the head of the Moretti family.
“What does it say?” Teresa asked nervously.
“Dad didn’t just pay for this house,” Luca said, his voice deadly calm. “He transferred fifty percent of the entire Moretti empire into a blind trust for Leo. It activates on his eighth birthday.”
I looked at Leo.
“When is his birthday?” I asked.
Sarah coughed and looked at the clock.
“Tomorrow,” she whispered.
Suddenly, the front door of the house crashed open.
Heavy footsteps echoed in the living room.
“Luca!” Michael’s voice boomed down the hallway. “Step away from the woman!”
Share
