Chapter 3 - THE SIGNATURE FROM THE GRAVE
"Who signed this?"
Luca’s voice echoed in the cavernous dining room.
It wasn't a question anymore. It was a threat.
Diane, the foundation director, pressed herself harder against the wall.
"I-I don't know what you mean, Mr. Moretti. The paperwork was mailed to our office."
Luca stepped toward her, the forged document crushed in his fist.
"My wife died three years ago. So I am going to ask you one more time. Who forged Caroline's signature to send my son away?"
Vanessa scrambled up from the floor.
"It was a mistake! The lawyers must have used an old template—"
"Shut up," Luca snapped without looking at her.
He held the paper out to Diane.
"Fresh ink, Diane. Not a photocopy. Someone physically signed my dead wife's name yesterday."
Noah reached out, his small hand brushing my apron.
"Miss Hannah?"
I knelt immediately.
"I'm right here, sweetheart."
"Why are they talking about Mommy?"
My chest ached. "It's just some confusing paperwork, honey."
Noah frowned, his sightless eyes turning toward the sound of his father's voice.
"Mommy's signature has a big loop on the C," he said softly.
Luca stopped. He turned to his son.
"How do you know that, buddy?"
"Because she used to trace it on my hand when I was little," Noah said. "And she practiced it in her blue journal. The one with the silver lock."
I saw Luca's expression shift.
"The blue journal?" Luca asked.
Noah nodded. "She kept it in the secret drawer under my window seat. She said it was full of important things."
Vanessa suddenly made a choked sound.
She grabbed her coat from the nearest chair and bolted for the hallway.
"Security!" Luca barked.
Two men in dark suits immediately blocked the dining room exit.
Vanessa crashed into them, sobbing frantically, but they didn't let her pass.
Luca looked at me.
"Hannah."
"Yes, sir?"
"Take Noah upstairs to his room. Find that journal."
"Yes, Mr. Moretti."
I gently took Noah's hand.
"Come on, sweetheart. Let's go on a treasure hunt."
He tapped his white cane against the marble floor, navigating perfectly out of the dining room and toward the grand staircase.
As we climbed the stairs, the massive house felt terrifyingly quiet.
I couldn't stop thinking about that signature.
If Vanessa had forged it, why use Caroline's name? Why not forge Luca's?
Unless the trust fund required the biological mother's consent for institutionalization.
We reached Noah's bedroom.
It was a beautiful room, painted in soft navy blues and warm grays.
Everything was meticulously organized so he would never trip.
Noah walked straight to the padded window seat overlooking the dark gardens.
"It's under here," he said, pressing his hands against the wooden paneling below the cushion.
"There's a hidden latch on the left."
I knelt beside him and ran my fingers along the wood.
I felt a small, nearly invisible groove.
I pressed it.
The panel popped open with a soft click.
Inside was a shallow, velvet-lined drawer.
But there was no blue leather journal.
The drawer was empty.
"Is it there?" Noah asked, his voice hopeful.
"No, honey," I said, my heart sinking. "The drawer is empty."
Noah’s face fell.
"But... she told me to guard it."
I reached my hand further into the dark recess of the drawer, feeling around the edges.
My fingers brushed against something hard and metallic pushed all the way to the back.
It wasn't a journal.
It was a small, silver micro-cassette recorder.
The kind people used years ago to take voice notes.
I pulled it out.
"I found something else, Noah," I said. "A little voice recorder."
He tilted his head. "Mommy used to sing into one of those."
I looked at the device. There was a tape inside.
My thumb hovered over the play button.
I knew I should wait for Luca.
But Vanessa was downstairs, trying to run. The signature was a forgery. And Noah's life was being sold out from under him.
"Can we listen to it?" Noah whispered.
I swallowed hard.
"Yes. Let's listen."
I pressed PLAY.
There was a burst of static.
Then, a woman's voice filled the quiet bedroom.
It was soft, melodic, but trembling with fear.
"If anyone is listening to this... my name is Caroline Moretti."
Noah gasped, his hands flying to his mouth. "Mommy."
The voice on the tape took a shaky breath.
"It's Tuesday. I don't have much time. I think Luca is asleep, but I can't trust anyone in this house anymore."
I froze.
"Noah's vision is getting worse. The doctors say it's a rare genetic condition. But they're lying."
My blood ran cold.
"I saw her in his room. The woman with the lavender perfume. She was switching his eyedrops."
I stopped breathing.
The tape crackled.
"It's not an illness. They are blinding my son."
Noah began to shake violently.
I hit STOP, my hands trembling so badly I almost dropped the recorder.
Noah's cane clattered to the floor.
"Miss Hannah?" he whimpered, stepping backward until he hit the bed.
"Oh, sweetheart," I rushed forward and pulled him into my arms.
His whole body was shaking.
"Did... did somebody make me blind?" he whispered.
Before I could answer, the bedroom door swung open.
I gasped, spinning around, clutching the recorder to my chest.
It was Diane.
The foundation director.
She had slipped past security.
May you like
And as she stepped into the room, a strong, overwhelming scent drifted through the air.
Lavender.
