Chapter 3 - The Name His Father Remembered
“Her name was Elena Ward.”
The elderly man spoke quietly, but every word carried across the dining room.
Luca stared at him.
“Charles, what are you talking about?”
Charles Whitcomb was seventy-five years old. He had been my employer's father's closest friend and had served on the foundation's board for nearly thirty years.
I'd seen him at the mansion several times.
He always carried a polished wooden cane with a silver horse's head.
Now his fingers tightened around it.
“Before she became Vanessa Bellini, she was Elena Ward.”
Vanessa's face went white.
“Charles, you promised.”
“I promised your mother I would look after you,” he answered. “I never promised to keep lying.”
Luca slowly turned toward his fiancée.
“Is that true?”
She looked down.
“Yes.”
“Why didn't you tell me?”
“Because you would have treated me differently.”
“You've been living in my house for almost two years.”
“I know.”
“Planning a wedding with me.”
Her eyes filled.
“I know, Luca.”
He stepped away from her.
For the first time that evening, he looked less like an angry man than someone struggling to recognize the woman he loved.
Charles cleared his throat.
“Her mother was June Ward. She managed Maple Street House, one of your father's oldest charitable properties.”
Luca frowned.
“I remember that place.”
“Your father trusted June for seventeen years.”
“Then what happened?”
Vanessa answered before Charles could.
“She died believing Salvatore Moretti had ruined her life.”
Nobody spoke.
Vanessa pressed her trembling hands together.
“Maple Street House provided temporary rooms for elderly people who couldn't afford rent. My mother managed the kitchen, cleaned the bedrooms, and stayed up with residents when they were sick.”
Her voice broke.
“One winter, the heating system failed. Money that should have paid for repairs disappeared.”
Luca looked at Charles.
“Was my father responsible?”
Charles hesitated.
“The foundation made mistakes.”
“That wasn't my question.”
Vanessa wiped her cheeks.
“My mother begged your father for help. She was dismissed. Within months, she was dead.”
I felt my stomach tighten.
Until that moment, I'd seen Vanessa only as the woman who humiliated me.
Now I was looking at someone who had spent years carrying a terrible grievance.
But grief didn't explain what she'd done to Daniel.
Or why she'd taken my wedding ring.
Luca pulled out a chair.
“Sit down, Vanessa.”
“I don't need your pity.”
“I'm not offering pity. I'm asking for the truth.”
She sat.
Charles remained standing.
Luca looked at him.
“Did you know who she was when you introduced us?”
“Yes.”
“Did you know my father had instructed the foundation never to place her in charge?”
Charles lowered his eyes.
“Yes.”
Luca's jaw tightened.
“Then why did you recommend her to me?”
“Because I thought your father's decision had been unfair.”
“That's not your decision to make.”
Vanessa looked up sharply.
“Your father made plenty of decisions that hurt people, Luca. You just weren't home to see them.”
He flinched.
I saw it.
For all his wealth and power, he was still a son hearing accusations against a father he could no longer question.
Charles rested both hands on his cane.
“Her name was legally changed after her stepfather's family took her in. Bellini is a legitimate surname. She wasn't pretending to be someone who doesn't exist.”
“Then why hide the connection?” Luca asked.
Vanessa looked toward the crystal chandelier.
“Because people remember a scandal longer than they remember the people who suffered.”
For a moment, I understood her.
I'd spent eighteen months learning exactly how that felt.
Then I looked at my wedding ring.
And remembered her smiling while she dropped it into champagne.
Luca followed my gaze.
“Rachel shouldn't have paid for what happened to your mother.”
Vanessa said nothing.
He turned toward Charles.
“Why did Daniel Bennett go to prison?”
Charles sighed.
“The evidence against him was substantial.”
“What evidence?”
“The foundation's financial records.”
“Who examined them?”
“Our accountants.”
“Who appointed those accountants?”
Charles's expression hardened.
“I did.”
Luca stared at him.
“Then tomorrow someone outside this family examines everything.”
Vanessa straightened.
“You can't simply tear apart the foundation.”
“It's my responsibility to find out what happened.”
“And the wedding?”
Luca looked at her for a long moment.
“There won't be a wedding next month.”
Her hand flew to her mouth.
Twenty-eight guests watched in uncomfortable silence.
Then one elderly woman quietly stood and suggested that everyone give the family some privacy.
Chairs moved.
Coats were collected.
Within minutes, the grand dining room began to empty.
Charles started toward the doorway.
“Don't leave Chicago,” Luca told him.
The old man stopped.
“I have nowhere else to go.”
Something about his answer bothered me.
It sounded less like reassurance than resentment.
Mrs. Carter approached my chair.
“Rachel, would you like me to bring you some tea?”
I shook my head.
“I need to call Denise. She's watching Molly.”
Luca looked at me.
“Your daughter?”
“Yes. She's eight.”
“Is she safe tonight?”
“Of course.”
But the question frightened me.
I hadn't considered that whatever threatened Daniel might still be interested in us.
Luca seemed to read my face.
“If you want, you and Molly can stay in the guest wing until we know more.”
“I don't want to cause trouble.”
“Rachel, you've already had enough trouble.”
I reached into my apron for my phone.
My fingers touched a folded piece of paper.
It was the drawing Molly had slipped into my pocket that morning while I hurried to work.
“Look later, Mommy,” she'd said.
I'd forgotten about it.
Now I unfolded the paper beneath the chandelier.
It showed a little girl outside a school.
Beside her stood an elderly man with a wooden cane.
A silver horse's head had been carefully colored at the top.
My chest tightened.
At the bottom, in Molly's uneven handwriting, were six words.
HE SAID DADDY CAN'T COME HOME.
I looked toward the doorway.
Charles Whitcomb was still standing there.
May you like
And suddenly I understood something terrifying.
The man who had helped send my husband to prison had already spoken to my daughter.
