Chapter 10 - THE BOX IN THE MASTER CLOSET
The air in the walk-in closet felt suddenly thin.
I stared at the faded tag dangling from the locked wooden box.
For Hannah. To be opened on your wedding day.
My mother’s handwriting. The elegant, slightly sloped cursive I hadn't seen in ten years.
How could a box from my dead mother be hidden in the back of Luca Moretti’s master closet?
My hands began to shake as I picked it up. It was heavy, made of dark mahogany, with a small brass keyhole.
"Hannah?"
I jumped, nearly dropping the box as Luca walked into the bedroom. He was drying his wet hair with a towel, looking relaxed after a shower.
He saw the pale expression on my face and stopped instantly.
"What's wrong?" he asked, tossing the towel aside and crossing the room.
I held up the box, showing him the tag.
"I found this in the back of your closet," I said, my voice trembling. "It has my mother's handwriting on it. Luca... why do you have this?"
Luca’s brow furrowed in genuine confusion. He looked at the box, then at the tag.
"I've never seen that before in my life," he swore, his dark eyes meeting mine with absolute honesty.
"It was buried under a pile of old winter blankets on the top shelf," I explained.
Luca frowned, his mind working quickly. "Those blankets belonged to Vanessa. She brought them when she moved into the suite last year. I never touched that shelf."
Vanessa.
She had kept this. She had brought it into the house.
"How would Vanessa have something belonging to my mother?" I asked, panic bubbling in my chest.
"I don't know," Luca said grimly. "But we are going to find out. We need to open it."
I looked at the brass keyhole. "It's locked. I don't have a key."
Luca walked over to his bedside table and pulled a small, heavy pocket knife from the drawer. He returned, gently taking the box from my hands. With a swift, practiced motion, he jimmied the brass lock until it clicked open.
He handed the box back to me, giving me a reassuring nod.
I took a deep breath and lifted the lid.
Inside the velvet-lined box sat a beautiful, antique silver necklace with a delicate pearl pendant.
And tucked beneath the necklace was a thick, sealed envelope.
I pulled the envelope out and tore it open. Inside was a handwritten letter, dated exactly one week before the fire that killed my parents.
My dearest Hannah,
If you are reading this, it means I am no longer with you. And it means you are preparing to marry into the world I tried so hard to protect you from.
Tears instantly blurred my vision. I blinked them away, forcing myself to keep reading.
Arthur Vance came to the house yesterday. He threatened us. He told us to stop asking questions about Leo's adoption. But your father and I couldn't let it go. We discovered the truth about the baby they gave us.
Leo isn't just an orphan Antonio Moretti bought to settle a debt.
He is Vanessa's son. But Vanessa didn't sell him to Antonio.
Vanessa is Antonio Moretti’s daughter.
I stopped reading, the paper slipping slightly from my trembling fingers.
"What?" I gasped, looking up at Luca.
"What does it say?" Luca asked, stepping closer.
"Read it," I whispered, handing him the letter.
Luca’s eyes scanned the page rapidly. The color drained entirely from his face as he read the words my mother had left behind.
"Vanessa... is my half-sister?" Luca breathed, horrified.
"Your father had an affair," I realized, the pieces finally falling into place. "Vanessa was his illegitimate daughter. That's why he bought her baby when she got pregnant. He wanted to protect his grandchild, but he couldn't publicly acknowledge Leo without exposing his affair and ruining his marriage to your mother."
Luca ran a hand through his hair, pacing the room as the devastating truth settled over him.
"Vanessa didn't infiltrate my life to steal the empire," Luca murmured, piecing together the timeline. "She didn't target Michael just to take over. She targeted us because she hated us. Because my father abandoned her, but gave us everything."
"She wanted to destroy the legitimate family," I said softly. "And she wanted her son back."
I looked down at the box in my hands. The silver necklace.
"Vanessa didn't bring this box into the house to taunt me," I realized, a chill running down my spine. "She kept it as a trophy. She was the one who went into my parents' apartment before the fire. She stole this box. She knew Arthur Vance was going to kill them."
The woman who had tormented me, who had tried to ruin my life, had been complicit in the murder of my parents.
"She has to pay," Luca growled, his eyes turning hard and lethal. "Federal prison isn't enough for what she took from you."
"Luca, no," I said, grabbing his arm. "She's already facing thirty years. The syndicate is gone. If you go after her now, you become the monster your father was."
"She helped kill your parents, Hannah!" Luca shouted, his protective rage boiling over.
"And she lost!" I yelled back, tears streaming down my face. "She lost her empire, she lost her freedom, and she lost Leo! He doesn't even know she's his mother, and he never will. That is her punishment, Luca. Let her rot in a cell knowing she failed."
Luca stared at me, his chest heaving with adrenaline. He looked at the tears on my face, and slowly, the darkness in his eyes receded.
He pulled me into his arms, burying his face in my neck, holding me impossibly tight.
"You are too good for this world, Hannah," he whispered brokenly.
"I'm just tired of the blood," I sobbed quietly against his chest. "I just want peace."
"You'll have it," Luca promised, kissing my hair. "I swear to God, you will have it."
But as we held each other, the quiet moment was shattered by the sound of my cell phone ringing from the bedside table.
I pulled away, wiping my eyes, and picked it up.
It was an unknown number.
"Hello?" I answered.
"Hannah."
The voice on the other end was familiar. Smooth, aristocratic, and completely unexpected.
It was Rosa Moretti. Luca's mother.
"Rosa?" I asked, confused. "Aren't you at the downtown penthouse?"
"Listen to me very carefully, my dear," Rosa said, her voice dropping to a terrifyingly calm whisper. "You need to take Leo and leave the estate immediately. Do not tell Luca."
"What? Why?" I demanded, my heart racing.
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"Because I just found out Arthur Vance didn't act alone when he ordered the fire that killed your parents," Rosa confessed, her voice thick with regret. "He had a partner inside the house. A partner who is standing in the room with you right now."
TITLE: The Traitor In The Master Suite
