Chapter 1 – THE PRICE OF A SISTER’S BETRAYAL
The crystal chandelier above us seemed to dim as all twenty-five members of the Moretti family stared at my younger sister.
Rebecca’s hands were shaking so violently that her silver clutch slipped from her fingers, hitting the hardwood floor with a sharp crack.
“I didn’t promise her anything,” Rebecca whispered, her voice trembling. “Emma, you have to believe me. I didn’t want to do this.”
Nonna Gabriella stepped closer, her posture rigidly demanding truth. “Then why did you tell Vanessa that your sister would be gone by the end of the month? What hold does this woman have over you, Rebecca?”
Vanessa smiled, a slow, venomous curve of her lips. She adjusted the strap of her red silk dress, looking entirely too comfortable in my home. “Tell them, Becca. Tell your perfect older sister why you needed my help.”
Luca stepped between Vanessa and my sister. His broad shoulders blocked Vanessa’s view. “If you threaten my family in my house again, Vanessa, you won’t leave through the front door.”
“Your family?” Vanessa laughed. “You were perfectly willing to push Emma out of the photograph two minutes ago, Luca. Don’t play the loyal husband now.”
Luca’s jaw clenched. He turned to Rebecca, his voice dropping to a low, dangerous octave. “What did you give her, Rebecca?”
My sister looked at me. Tears were spilling over her mascara, ruining the makeup we had applied together just two hours ago in my bathroom.
“I needed money, Emma,” Rebecca sobbed. “I made a terrible investment. I was going to lose the house. I asked Luca for a loan three months ago, but he said no.”
I looked at my husband in shock. “You asked Luca? Why didn’t you ask me?”
“Because Luca controls the accounts!” Rebecca cried out. “And when he turned me down, Vanessa found out. She came to me. She said she could pay off my debt. All I had to do was plant a seed of doubt in Luca’s mind. Just tell him that you were unhappy. That you were planning to leave him.”
My chest tightened. The late nights, the sudden distance between Luca and me over the past few weeks—it all made sense. He thought I was preparing to walk away.
“You sold our marriage for a mortgage?” I whispered.
“It wasn’t just the house!” Rebecca lunged forward, grabbing my wrists. “Emma, she has something else. Something worse.”
Vanessa’s smile finally faltered. “Shut your mouth, Rebecca.”
“No!” Rebecca screamed. She reached down, frantically pulling a small, faded object from her fallen purse. She thrust it into my hands.
It was a delicate, gold locket.
My blood ran completely cold.
I recognized the intricate engraving on the front immediately. It was the locket I had worn every day until a terrifying night five years ago—the night I miscarried our first child. I had lost the locket at the hospital and never found it.
“Where did you get this?” Luca demanded, his voice thick with a sudden, raw grief.
Rebecca pointed a shaking finger at Vanessa. “She didn’t just give me money, Luca. She gave me this. And she told me that if I didn’t help her take Emma’s place, she was going to send the police the photograph hidden inside it. The photograph that proves what really happened the night Emma lost the baby.”
Share
