Chapter 5 – The Price of Her Silence

Luca examined the statement.

Then he looked at me.

“Are you certain?”

“Yes, sir.”

Michael immediately shook his head.

“Hannah doesn’t know every person who comes into this house.”

“No,” I admitted. “But I know who looks after Mrs. Moretti.”

I worked the morning shift most days.

On other days, I stayed late to help with dinner.

Teresa had occasional appointments with her physician, and a therapist had visited several times to help with her hand tremors.

But the statement listed regular private nursing visits.

Three times a week.

Sometimes four.

Some charges were marked as overnight assistance.

I’d never seen an overnight nurse in the mansion.

Teresa hadn’t had one.

Luca turned toward his mother.

“Mom, did anyone come to care for you at night?”

She shook her head.

“Hannah makes sure my water is beside the bed.”

Michael looked irritated.

“Those charges include care coordination.”

Luca read the statement.

“Then why are they labeled overnight nursing services?”

“It’s how the contractor bills.”

“What’s the contractor’s full name?”

“Westbridge Household Services.”

“Who owns it?”

Michael didn’t answer.

Vanessa looked toward the fireplace.

Luca noticed.

“Vanessa?”

She swallowed.

“Michael said it was a company he used for property management.”

“Did you ever speak to anyone there?”

“No.”

“Did you ever see a nurse?”

She hesitated.

“No.”

Michael turned toward her.

“You weren’t living here when those services began.”

“That’s true,” Vanessa said. “But I’ve been here for the last seven months.”

Luca looked down.

The payments continued through the previous week.

His jaw tightened.

Michael stepped closer.

“Luca, this is a business issue. We can discuss it tomorrow.”

“My mother’s money is being used to pay for care she never received.”

“You don’t know that.”

“Then explain it.”

Michael looked toward Teresa.

“Mom, please tell him I’ve been looking after you.”

Teresa nodded uncertainly.

“You’ve helped with the bills.”

“And the appointments.”

“Yes.”

“And I’ve made sure you had what you needed.”

She paused.

“Sometimes.”

Michael flinched.

Luca noticed.

“Sometimes?”

Teresa looked embarrassed.

“I asked Michael whether someone could help me in the mornings.”

I glanced at her.

She’d never told me that.

“My hands are worse when I first wake up,” she continued. “Sometimes I can’t fasten my necklace.”

Michael sighed.

“We talked about arranging help.”

“You said it cost too much.”

Luca stared at him.

The room went quiet.

Michael looked toward the statement.

“That was before I found a better service.”

Teresa’s voice trembled.

“But nobody came.”

Nobody spoke.

I thought about the mornings I’d found her struggling with the buttons on her dress.

The nights she’d pretended not to be hungry because she was embarrassed to ask someone to cut her food.

The way she’d thanked me for the smallest kindness.

And all that time, somebody had been charging her account for care she wasn’t receiving.

Luca slowly placed the statement beside the green notebook.

“Michael, we’re finished discussing whether Mom imagined things.”

His brother folded his arms.

“You’ve already decided I’m guilty.”

“I’ve decided she deserves an explanation.”

Vanessa sat down.

She looked pale.

“I didn’t know about the nursing charges.”

Michael looked at her.

“You saw the statement.”

“Because I found it last week.”

“And you didn’t ask me?”

“I did.”

“What did I tell you?”

“That the services were arranged.”

Vanessa looked toward Teresa.

Then she said quietly, “I believed you.”

Luca studied his fiancée.

“Did you know Michael was using Mom’s account to pay for these services?”

“Yes.”

“And you still told me she needed to leave because nobody here could care for her?”

Vanessa closed her eyes.

“I thought she needed more help than the house could provide.”

“Then why didn’t you ask what happened to the help we were already paying for?”

She didn’t answer.

Luca looked toward the empty chairs.

The dinner had been planned for weeks.

He’d spent thousands of dollars making everything perfect.

Yet nobody had thought to ask whether his mother had what she needed to eat comfortably.

He pulled out a chair beside Teresa.

“Mom, I’m sorry.”

She looked startled.

“For what?”

“For leaving you to sort this out alone.”

She immediately shook her head.

“You work hard.”

“I do.”

“You have people depending on you.”

“Yes.”

She touched his sleeve.

“Your father understood that.”

Luca looked down.

“Dad understood a lot of things I didn’t.”

Teresa’s eyes filled.

“Your father loved you very much.”

“I know.”

“He wanted to talk to you that night.”

Luca’s expression changed.

Michael looked toward the door.

Teresa continued.

“He said there was something he needed to put right.”

Luca turned toward his brother.

“What did Dad mean?”

Michael’s voice hardened.

“Mom, please stop.”

She looked at him.

“Why?”

“Because you’re tired.”

“No.”

Her answer was quiet.

But it was the firmest word she’d spoken all evening.

“I’m tired of being told I’m confused.”

Michael went still.

Teresa pulled the blue blanket around her shoulders.

“My hands shake. Sometimes I lose a word. Sometimes I forget why I walked into a room.”

She looked from one son to the other.

“But I know my husband.”

Luca reached for her hand.

“I know you do.”

She stared at the brass bell.

“He was frightened that night.”

Michael shook his head.

“He was dying, Mom.”

“He wasn’t frightened of dying.”

The room went silent.

Teresa looked at him.

“He was frightened of leaving something unfinished.”

Luca waited.

Then she whispered, “He told me to make sure you saw the green book.”

Michael stepped forward.

“That’s enough.”

Luca stood.

“Don’t.”

Michael stared at him.

For a moment, I thought he might actually strike his brother.

Instead, he turned toward me.

“Hannah, take Mom upstairs.”

I didn’t move.

“Hannah.”

I looked at Teresa.

She shook her head.

So I stayed.

Michael gave a short, bitter laugh.

“Of course. The maid decides everything now.”

Luca stepped between us.

“Hannah works for me.”

Michael’s expression changed.

“And if I decide she shouldn’t?”

“You don’t make that decision.”

The silence that followed was almost painful.

Then Teresa spoke.

“Michael, you told me Hannah would lose her job.”

His face went white.

She looked at Luca.

“He said the same thing about the woman who helped your father.”

Luca frowned.

“What woman?”

Teresa swallowed.

“The nurse.”

Michael turned sharply.

“Mom.”

But she kept speaking.

“The nurse who came that last evening. Michael said if I told anyone what happened, she’d lose her license.”

Luca looked at his brother.

“You told us there wasn’t a nurse there.”

Michael’s face had gone completely still.

Then Teresa whispered:

“She was the one who told Michael to call an ambulance.”

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