Chapter 2 - THE RECEIPT IN HER PURSE
“How much of my mother's life have you already handed over to be melted down?”
Luca's voice was so quiet that I could hear Teresa struggling to breathe beside me.
Vanessa stood at the opposite end of the dining table.
Her red satin gown shimmered beneath the chandelier.
For once, she wasn't looking at the guests.
She was looking at the floor.
“Answer me,” Luca said.
Vanessa swallowed.
“Both wedding rings. The bracelet. The necklace.”
Teresa made a small sound.
“And the locket?” Luca asked.
Vanessa closed her eyes.
“Yes.”
I felt Teresa's hand tighten around mine.
Five pieces.
Five things she had kept close through fifty years of marriage, motherhood, and loss.
And Vanessa had taken every one.
Luca looked toward Daniel.
“Please ask our guests to leave. Quietly.”
Daniel nodded.
Mrs. Carter began escorting people from the dining room.
Nobody argued.
Some looked embarrassed.
Others couldn't meet Teresa's eyes.
Within minutes, the room that had held twenty-eight dinner guests contained only Luca, Vanessa, Teresa, Mrs. Carter, Daniel, and me.
Vanessa's mother, Celia Bellini, remained near the windows.
She had attended the engagement dinner wearing an expensive ivory jacket and a large diamond brooch.
Until that moment, she'd barely spoken.
Now she stepped forward.
“Luca, perhaps everyone should calm down.”
He turned toward her.
“My mother's wedding ring is missing.”
“I understand.”
“No, Mrs. Bellini. I don't think you do.”
Celia's expression tightened.
“These things can be discussed without humiliating my daughter.”
Luca stared at her.
“My mother spent this evening hiding her injured hands because Vanessa told her they were embarrassing.”
He glanced toward Teresa.
“I think we've already established who was humiliated.”
Celia looked away.
Luca turned back to Vanessa.
“Where is the jewelry?”
“At Vale House Jewelry.”
“Who owns it?”
“Martin Vale. He's worked with my mother's family for years.”
Celia nodded.
“Martin is a reputable jeweler.”
“Then he should understand that those items belong to my mother.”
Vanessa hesitated.
“It's not that simple.”
Luca's jaw tightened.
“Make it simple.”
She reached into her evening purse.
After searching for several seconds, she removed a cream-colored envelope.
Inside was a folded receipt.
Luca held out his hand.
Vanessa didn't move.
“Please,” he said.
She gave it to him.
I watched him unfold the paper.
His expression changed.
Then he read aloud.
“Two plain gold wedding bands. One gold anniversary bracelet. One gold chain with pendant. One oval gold locket.”
Teresa began crying.
Luca continued reading silently.
Then he looked up.
“This isn't a work order for wedding bands.”
Vanessa said nothing.
“It's an appraisal and exchange agreement.”
Celia stepped closer.
“That is how custom jewelry commissions are sometimes arranged.”
Luca looked at her.
“My parents' rings weren't available for exchange.”
Vanessa folded her arms.
“You're acting as though I sold them.”
“Did you?”
“No.”
“Then why does this receipt say the jewelry may be credited against a purchase?”
She hesitated.
“The gold wasn't enough for the design I wanted.”
Luca stared at her.
“So you were going to use the rest of my mother's jewelry to pay for something she never agreed to buy?”
Vanessa's eyes filled.
“I wanted something meaningful for our marriage.”
Teresa spoke so quietly I almost missed it.
“Antonio gave me that bracelet because we couldn't afford anything special for our first anniversary.”
Everyone turned.
She looked down at her swollen hands.
“On our fortieth, he bought me a proper gold one.”
Her lips trembled.
“He said he'd finally made up for being late.”
Luca closed his eyes.
Teresa gave a broken little laugh.
“I told him forty years was a very long time to wait.”
Nobody smiled.
She looked toward Vanessa.
“You could've asked me, dear.”
Vanessa's face tightened.
“I did ask.”
Teresa shook her head.
“You asked to borrow my jewelry for the wedding photographs.”
“I explained the idea.”
“No.”
Teresa's voice trembled.
“You told me the photographer wanted to arrange the family pieces on a velvet tray.”
Vanessa looked away.
“I wanted it to be a surprise.”
Luca spoke.
“Surprises don't require lying to the person you're supposedly honoring.”
Then he noticed another line on the receipt.
He frowned.
“Who signed the authorization?”
Vanessa reached for the paper.
“Luca—”
He moved it away.
“Whose name is this?”
I saw him turn the receipt beneath the light.
There was a box labeled Owner's Representative.
Beneath it was a handwritten name.
Luca stared at the paper.
Then slowly looked toward me.
“Hannah?”
My stomach dropped.
“Yes, sir?”
He hesitated.
“Did you take my mother's jewelry to this store?”
I couldn't understand the question.
“What?”
He handed me the receipt.
I read the name.
Hannah Collins.
My name.
Written beneath a statement confirming that the jewelry had been released for appraisal and possible alteration.
I stared at it.
“Mr. Moretti, I've never been to that store.”
Vanessa immediately spoke.
“Hannah helped arrange the jewelry.”
I looked at her.
“No, ma'am.”
“You were there when Teresa agreed.”
“She agreed to photographs.”
Vanessa's expression hardened.
“You're confusing things.”
I felt my hands shaking.
“No.”
I held up the receipt.
“I didn't sign this.”
Celia stepped forward.
“Perhaps you don't remember.”
I stared at her.
“I remember where I've been.”
My voice cracked.
“And I remember Mrs. Moretti asking me to help find her locket because she thought she'd misplaced it.”
Luca turned toward Teresa.
“When?”
“Tuesday,” she whispered.
My stomach tightened.
The dinner was Friday.
Vanessa had taken the jewelry days before putting those gloves on Teresa's hands.
Luca looked back at the receipt.
Then at his former fiancée.
“You didn't decide to do this this afternoon.”
She said nothing.
“You planned it before my mother even knew her rings were missing.”
Vanessa began crying.
“It wasn't supposed to happen like this.”
Luca stared at her.
Then looked toward the signature.
“Daniel, keep this receipt.”
He handed it over.
I swallowed.
“Mr. Moretti, please believe me. I didn't authorize anything.”
He looked directly at me.
“Hannah, I believe you.”
Relief hit me so suddenly I nearly cried.
Then Luca turned toward Vanessa.
“But somebody deliberately put my employee's name on a document involving my mother's property.”
His voice hardened.
“And until I understand why, nobody is going to pretend this was an innocent misunderstanding.”
That's when Celia stepped forward.
“Luca, Hannah's name was put there because the jeweler needed a household contact.”
Everyone turned.
Vanessa whispered, “Mom, don't.”
But Celia continued.
“I told Martin Vale that Hannah could confirm Mrs. Moretti's wishes.”
Luca stared at her.
“You used Hannah's name without asking her?”
Celia hesitated.
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because Teresa trusts her.”
Luca took a slow breath.
Then asked, “And did you ask Teresa whether she wanted her jewelry melted?”
Celia looked toward the older woman.
For several seconds, nobody spoke.
Finally, she answered.
“No.”
Teresa lowered her head.
Celia clasped her hands together.
“But there's something else you need to understand.”
Luca looked at her.
“What?”
Celia glanced at her daughter.
Then toward Daniel, who was still holding the receipt.
“Martin didn't accept all five pieces for melting.”
Vanessa frowned.
“What are you talking about?”
Celia swallowed.
“He refused to alter the two wedding bands without speaking to their owner.”
Luca went still.
“Then where are the rings?”
Celia looked at him.
May you like
And said something that made Vanessa's face drain of color.
“I took them back from Martin yesterday.”
