Chapter 10 - THE SURGEON'S SECRET
The flashing police lights blurred in my vision. The roar of the city traffic faded into a deafening, hollow ringing in my ears.
Dr. Evelyn Collins.
My mother.
“That’s impossible,” I whispered, stepping backward, my hands trembling uncontrollably. “My mother is a retired cardiac surgeon. She’s been bedridden for months. She doesn't know Victor. She doesn't know your family!”
Luca stared at the bank receipt, his brow furrowed in deep, agonizing confusion. He looked at me, his dark eyes searching my face for any sign of deception. He saw nothing but sheer, unadulterated terror.
“Hannah, this transfer is dated three years ago,” Luca said softly, his voice tight. “The exact day before my father died of ‘heart failure.’ And your mother was a cardiac specialist.”
The pieces began to violently snap together in my mind, forming a picture so horrifying I couldn't breathe.
Three years ago. My mother had abruptly retired, claiming early-onset arthritis in her hands. We had moved from a wealthy suburb to a modest apartment. She had always refused to talk about why her lucrative career had ended overnight.
And then, eleven months ago, she had urged me to take the maid position at the Moretti mansion. She said it was a good, stable job. She had practically pushed me out the door.
“She knew,” I gasped, the air leaving my lungs. “She knew I was working for your family.”
“Did she know my father?” Luca pressed, taking a step toward me.
“I don't know!” I cried, tears spilling over my cheeks. “I swear to you, Mr. Moretti, I had no idea! I’m just a maid!”
Sofia stepped between us, holding little Leo tightly to her chest. “Luca, back off. Look at her. She saved my son tonight. She saved Mom. She didn't know.”
Luca closed his eyes, taking a deep, shuddering breath to control the towering rage that threatened to consume him. When he opened them, the anger was replaced by a cold, terrifying resolve.
“We are going to your mother’s apartment, Hannah,” Luca said flatly. “Right now.”
I didn't argue. I wanted the truth just as desperately as he did.
I rode in the back of an unmarked police SUV with Luca, while Sofia and Leo were taken to the hospital to be checked over, guarded by a dozen loyal officers.
The drive to my mother’s apartment complex on the West Side was silent and suffocating.
We arrived at dawn. The sky was bleeding a pale, bruised purple.
I unlocked the door to our small, two-bedroom apartment. The smell of antiseptic and herbal tea greeted me.
My mother’s live-in nurse, a quiet woman named Maria, looked up in surprise from the kitchen counter.
“Hannah? What are you doing home so early?” Maria asked, her eyes widening as she saw the tall, bruised, and intimidating figure of Luca Moretti standing behind me.
“Where is she, Maria?” I asked, my voice shaking.
“She’s awake in her bedroom, but—”
I didn't wait for her to finish. I marched down the short hallway and pushed the bedroom door open.
My mother, Dr. Evelyn Collins, was sitting up in bed, reading a book. She looked frail, her gray hair pulled back into a loose braid, an oxygen cannula resting under her nose.
When she saw me standing in the doorway with Luca, her book slipped from her hands, landing softly on the quilt.
She didn't look surprised. She didn't look terrified.
She just looked profoundly, exhaustingly resigned.
“I suppose the truth always finds its way into the light,” my mother whispered, her voice raspy but calm.
“Mom,” I choked out, stepping into the room. “Victor wired you ten million dollars three years ago. The day before Antonio Moretti died.”
My mother closed her eyes, a single tear escaping her lashes.
“I know,” she said quietly.
Luca stepped forward, the sheer force of his presence dominating the small bedroom.
“Did you kill my father, Dr. Collins?” Luca asked, his voice deadly soft.
My mother opened her eyes. She looked at Luca, unfazed by his intimidation.
“No, Mr. Moretti,” my mother said firmly. “I did not kill your father. I tried to save him.”
I frowned, deeply confused. “But the money, Mom. The ten million dollars!”
My mother sighed heavily, gesturing for us to come closer.
“Three years ago, Victor came to me privately,” she explained, her hands trembling as she adjusted her blanket. “He knew I was one of the best cardiac surgeons in the country. He told me his estranged brother-in-law, Antonio, was suffering from a rare, aggressive heart condition. He said the family wanted it kept secret.”
“My father’s condition was a secret,” Luca confirmed grimly.
“Victor offered me ten million dollars to perform a highly experimental, off-the-books surgery to repair Antonio’s heart valve,” my mother continued. “I refused the money. I told him I wouldn't operate outside a legal hospital setting.”
“Then why did you accept the wire transfer?” Luca demanded.
“I didn't,” my mother said, looking him dead in the eye. “Victor wired it into a dummy account in my name to frame me.”
My jaw dropped. “Frame you? Why?”
“Because the night before the surgery, Victor broke into my office,” my mother wept softly. “He didn't want me to fix Antonio’s heart. He wanted me to ensure Antonio died on the operating table. He threatened to kill you, Hannah, if I didn't comply.”
I covered my mouth, absolute horror washing over me.
“I refused,” my mother sobbed. “I told him I would go to the police. So, he beat me. He shattered the bones in my hands with a steel pipe so I could never operate again. He ruined my career to ensure I couldn't save Antonio.”
Tears streamed down my face. The early retirement. The sudden arthritis. The excruciating pain she had suffered for three years. It was all because she refused to murder a man to save her daughter.
“And the ten million dollars?” Luca asked, his voice softening just a fraction.
“It was hush money,” my mother whispered. “Victor told me if I ever spoke of the attack, he would activate the dummy account, tip off the FBI, and frame me for accepting a bribe to murder a mob boss. He said you, Luca, would hunt me down and kill my daughter in retaliation.”
The immense, suffocating weight of my mother’s sacrifice crushed me. She had lived in poverty, enduring agony, terrified every single day that the mafia would come for me.
“Why did you send me to work for them, Mom?” I cried, dropping to my knees beside her bed. “Why send me into the lion's den?”
My mother gently stroked my hair with her crooked, ruined fingers.
“Because Victor told me he was moving back to Chicago,” my mother said softly. “He said he was going to finish dismantling the Moretti family from the inside. I knew he would use Vanessa. I needed someone inside the house to protect Teresa. Someone I trusted with my life. I couldn't protect you from the outside, Hannah. But I knew if you were near Luca, he would protect you.”
I wept into her blankets, overwhelmed by the fierce, terrifying love of a mother.
Luca stood silently for a long moment. The anger that had fueled him all night completely vanished, replaced by a profound, agonizing empathy.
He walked over to the bed and gently placed his hand on my mother’s shoulder.
“You sacrificed your life to save my father, Dr. Collins,” Luca said, his voice thick with emotion. “And your daughter sacrificed her safety to save my mother and my nephew.”
He looked at me, his dark eyes filled with absolute, unwavering respect.
“The Moretti family owes you a debt we can never repay,” Luca vowed. “You will never have to fear Victor’s ghosts again. You are under my protection now.”
The nightmare of the past three years was finally, truly over.
But as Luca turned to leave the room, his cell phone rang sharply.
He answered it, his expression instantly shifting back to cold professionalism.
“Yes, Marco?” Luca asked.
He listened for a moment. His eyes widened slightly.
“Are you certain?” Luca asked, his voice tight.
He hung up the phone and looked at me, a strange, complex emotion playing across his face.
“Hannah,” Luca said slowly. “That was my head of security. The police just breached the secret panic room in the dining room to secure my father’s diary.”
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“Did they find it?” I asked, wiping my eyes.
“They found the diary,” Luca said. “But they also found something else hidden beneath the floorboards of the panic room. Something my father left specifically for you.”
