The Burnt Edge of a Mother’s Letter

“That’s my father’s watch,” Luca breathed. “He was buried with it three years ago.”

Vanessa stumbled back against the wall of the hallway.

The engagement dinner guests were still frozen in the dining room, but Marco had returned from the study. He saw the gold watch in my hand and immediately positioned himself between Vanessa and the front door.

“Luca, let me explain,” Vanessa begged, her voice cracking. “I didn’t take it. I swear on my life I didn’t take it.”

“Then why was it in your coat?” Luca asked.

He didn’t yell. The quietness of his voice was far more terrifying. He gently pushed Lily behind him, shielding her from the sight of the woman he was supposed to marry.

“I... I bought it,” Vanessa stammered, tears ruining her perfect makeup. “From a pawn shop in the city. I recognized the engraving on the back. I was going to give it to you tonight as a wedding gift!”

It was a desperate lie, and everyone knew it.

Luca stepped closer to her.

“My father’s casket was sealed in a private mausoleum, Vanessa. A mausoleum only family has the keys to.”

He held out his hand to me. I carefully placed the heavy gold watch in his palm. Luca turned it over. The familiar initials, A.M., were etched into the gold. But as Luca traced the letters, his brow furrowed.

He pressed the small latch on the side.

The watch clicked open.

It was empty. The clock face had been removed.

Instead, folded tightly inside the hollow gold casing, was a tiny, crumpled photograph.

Luca pulled it out. As he unfolded it, I saw his jaw clench so hard a muscle twitched near his temple.

“Marco,” Luca said, not taking his eyes off the photograph. “Take Lily upstairs. Stay with her.”

Lily clung to him. “Daddy, I’m scared.”

Luca immediately dropped to his knees, his entire demeanor softening in an instant. He kissed her forehead. “There is nothing to be scared of, baby. I promise you. Marco is going to take you to your room. Put on your pajamas. I will be up in five minutes to read you a story.”

“Promise?” she whispered.

“I swear my life on it.”

Marco gently led Lily up the grand staircase.

Once she was out of sight, the warmth vanished from Luca’s eyes. He stood up and held the photograph in front of Vanessa’s face.

I caught a glimpse of it.

It was a picture of Vanessa, sitting in a dark restaurant booth. Across from her was a man with a scarred neck. They were exchanging a thick manila envelope.

“That is Tomaso,” Luca said softly. “The man who ran my father’s security. The man who supposedly died in a car crash two weeks before my father passed.”

Vanessa clamped a hand over her mouth.

“Answer one question for me, Vanessa,” Luca said. “And think very carefully before you speak. Why is a dead man handing you my wife’s medical file?”

Vanessa shook her head frantically. “He blackmailed me! He found out about the money from the charity, Luca! He said if I didn’t help him, he’d tell you!”

“Help him do what?”

Vanessa squeezed her eyes shut. “Help him get into Sarah’s room.”

The silence in the hallway felt like a physical weight.

Luca didn’t move. He didn’t breathe.

“Sarah was sick,” Luca whispered. “She was dying of cancer.”

“Tomaso said it was taking too long,” Vanessa sobbed. “He swapped her medications, Luca. But she found out. She found the ledger, she realized I was working with him. That’s why she left that note for you. She knew I helped him speed it up.”

My stomach turned violently.

Luca stood completely still.

Then, he did something I didn’t expect. He put the watch in his pocket and pulled out Sarah’s old silver flip phone.

He handed it to me.

“Claire,” he said. “Pack your things.”

My heart dropped. “Sir?”

“Pack Lily’s things, too,” he said, his eyes finally moving to mine. “Take her to the safe house in Wisconsin. Do not let anyone but me through the door.”

Before I could answer, a loud, heavy knock pounded on the mansion’s front door.

Marco’s voice crackled over the security radio on the wall.