Chapter 3 – THE BROKEN WATCH

“Dominic?” I breathed. “Vanessa’s brother?”

Luca didn’t answer. He stared at the broken gold watch in his palm.

“Caroline died at 11:42 PM,” Luca said, his voice terrifyingly calm. “The police said her car swerved off the coast road. They said she was alone.”

“Then why is Dominic Bellini’s watch in her jewelry box? And why is it broken at the exact time of her death?”

“Because he was in the car with her.”

Luca crushed the watch inside his fist. The implication was sickening. Vanessa hadn’t just planted a forged letter to make Caroline look like a runaway mother. She had planted it to cover up the fact that her own brother was involved in Caroline’s death.

“Vanessa knew,” Luca whispered. “She’s known for three years. She married into my family to ensure I never dug deeper.”

He grabbed his phone from the desk.

“Mr. Moretti, what are you doing?”

“Calling my men. Dominic Bellini is a dead man.”

“Wait!” I stepped in front of him. “If you kill him now, you’ll never know what actually happened that night! And if Vanessa realizes you found the watch, she’ll run. Or worse, she’ll try to take Benjamin.”

Luca stopped. The mention of his son broke through his rage.

“She has custody papers,” I blurted out. “The lady from the orphanage—Vanessa said she had medical forms. She’s trying to get legal guardianship of Benjamin to institutionalize him. If you act violently now, she can use it against you in court.”

Luca slowly lowered the phone. He looked at me, really looked at me, for the first time.

“You’re very smart for a housemaid, Claire.”

“I’m just trying to protect Benjamin, sir.”

“So am I.” Luca walked to the safe hidden behind a painting on the wall. He opened it and placed the watch and the forged letter inside. “Tomorrow morning, I am going to the Bellini estate. I will handle Dominic. You stay here with Ben. Do not let him out of your sight. Do not open the door for anyone.”

“I understand.”

“And Claire?”

“Yes, sir?”

“Thank you.”

The sincerity in his voice made my chest tighten. I nodded and hurried back upstairs.

When I returned to Benjamin’s room, he was sitting up in bed, wide awake.

“Ben? Why aren’t you sleeping?”

He was holding a piece of crumpled paper. A child’s drawing done in crayons.

“I found it,” he whispered.

“Found what?”

“The picture.”

I walked over and sat beside him. He unrolled the paper. It wasn’t the photograph Vanessa had stolen. It was a drawing Benjamin had made.

It showed a black car at the edge of a cliff.

And two stick figures standing outside the car. One had yellow hair like Caroline. The other had a red dress.

“Ben,” I said, my voice shaking. “What is this?”

“It’s a bad dream I had a long time ago,” he said softly. “I drew it so I wouldn’t forget.”

“A dream about your mother?”

He nodded. “About the night she went to Heaven.”

“Sweetie… why did you draw someone in a red dress?”

Benjamin looked up at me, his blue eyes filled with innocent confusion.

“Because Mommy didn’t drive away by herself that night.”

My blood ran cold. “She didn’t?”

“No,” Benjamin whispered. “Vanessa came to the house. She yelled at Mommy. And then Vanessa got in the car with her.”

I stared at the drawing.

Vanessa hadn’t just covered up her brother’s involvement.

She had been there.

Suddenly, I heard the sound of a key turning in the front door downstairs.

I froze. Luca had locked the doors.

Heavy footsteps echoed in the foyer. But it wasn’t Luca’s steady stride. It was the sharp, clicking sound of high heels.

Vanessa had come back.

And she wasn’t alone. I could hear the deep voices of two men in the hallway.

“Search the house,” Vanessa’s voice drifted up the stairs, cold and commanding. “Find the maid. And get the boy.”

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