Chapter 4 - The Silver Bracelet's Dark History
The silver charms clinked together in the heavy silence of the foyer.
Vanessa tried to yank her arm away, but Luca’s grip was like iron. His dark eyes stared at the bracelet, a storm brewing in their depths.
“You told me you bought this at an antique auction in Milan,” Luca said, his voice dangerously even. “You wore it tonight because you said it matched your earrings.”
Vanessa’s breath hitched. “I did! I did buy it! The little brat must have seen one just like it. It’s a common design, Luca. Please, you’re hurting my wrist!”
Matthew stepped forward, gently setting Lily down and letting me hold her close to my apron.
“Turn the middle star over,” Matthew said quietly to Luca. “Sarah’s initials are engraved on the back. S.M. Sarah Moreland.”
Luca flipped the small silver star over.
He read the engraving.
Then, with a look of utter disgust, he dropped Vanessa’s arm.
“Take it off,” Luca commanded.
Vanessa’s lips trembled. She fumbled with the clasp, her manicured fingers slipping. Finally, the bracelet fell into her palm. She threw it on a side table as if it burned her.
I picked it up and handed it back to Matthew. He knelt and gently clasped it around Lily’s tiny wrist. The little girl stopped crying, tracing the silver stars with her thumb.
“Why?” I asked, stepping toward Vanessa. The deference I had shown her for the past two years vanished. I was no longer the obedient maid. I was a mother, and a grandmother, defending my blood. “Why would you go to such lengths? Why would you go to his house, steal from a child, and threaten him with CPS? Just to keep him away from an engagement dinner?”
“Because he’s a criminal!” Vanessa shrieked, finally breaking. “Because you’re blinding yourselves to who he really is! You want to know why I want him gone, Ellen? Because four years ago, your precious son didn't just steal roof money from you. He stole from the Moretti family!”
I froze.
Vanessa reached into her designer clutch and pulled out a small, yellowed piece of paper. She threw it onto the marble floor at my feet.
“Look at it,” she spat.
My hands shook as I picked it up.
It was a pawn shop ticket. Dated four years ago.
The item described was a diamond pendant. A very specific diamond pendant—one that belonged to Luca’s late sister, Isabella, who had died tragically in a car accident.
And at the bottom of the ticket, signed in sloppy, hurried handwriting, was my son’s name. Matthew Brooks.
“He pawned Isabella’s necklace,” Vanessa sneered, looking triumphantly at Luca. “The one you’ve been looking for all these years. He stole it from your private safe when he came here to ‘visit’ his mother, and he sold it for drug money. I found that ticket in his jacket pocket months ago. I was trying to spare you the pain, Luca. I was trying to protect your family from these parasites!”
Luca stared at the ticket in my hands. His jaw clenched so tight I thought his teeth might shatter. Isabella’s necklace had been his most prized possession. Its disappearance had torn him apart.
I turned to Matthew, my heart breaking all over again.
“Matthew?” I whispered. “Is this true? Did you take it?”
Matthew looked at the ticket. He didn't deny it. He didn't run.
He just lowered his head. “I pawned it, Mom. Yes. My signature is on the ticket.”
Vanessa crossed her arms, a vicious smirk playing on her lips. “There. You see? He admits it. He’s a thief. And Ellen probably knew about it the whole time.”
“But I didn't steal it,” Matthew said, raising his head to look directly at Luca. “I pawned it because I needed the cash for a hit. But I didn't take it from the safe. I didn't even know where the safe was.”
“Then how did you get it?” Luca demanded, his voice finally rising with raw emotion.
Matthew swallowed hard. “Someone gave it to me.”
“Liar!” Vanessa screamed. “Who would give you a priceless family heirloom?”
“I would,” a calm, steady voice echoed through the foyer.
We all turned.
Teresa Moretti stepped out of the shadows of the hallway. The seventy-eight-year-old matriarch leaned heavily on her cane, but her eyes were sharp, unyielding, and completely unafraid.
“I gave him the necklace,” Teresa said.
Vanessa laughed nervously. “Teresa, please. You’re confused. Your memory has been slipping lately. You don't know what you’re saying.”
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Teresa walked slowly toward Vanessa, stopping mere inches from the younger woman.
“My memory is perfectly fine, Miss Bellini,” Teresa said coldly. “I gave Matthew the necklace four years ago. Because I needed him to take the blame for something you did.”
