Chapter 3 - THE TRUTH IN THE BROKEN GLASS
Luca didn't move.
He simply stared at the silver watch taped to the notebook paper, the cracked glass reflecting the warm light of the bedroom lamp.
Four-fifteen.
The exact time the police said Caroline’s car had gone over the embankment in the rain.
Lucy was still crying, her small hands clutching her father's sleeve.
"I didn't steal it, Daddy. I swear. I just saw it in a shoebox in her closet and took it because it looked like the one in Mom's pictures."
Luca finally blinked, pulling himself back from whatever dark memory had just consumed him.
He wrapped his arms around his daughter, burying his face in her hair.
"I know, baby. I know you didn't steal it. You are so brave for telling me."
He held her until her tears finally stopped, replaced by the heavy exhaustion that follows a panic attack.
I pulled the heavy duvet over her, tucking it under her chin.
Luca sat with her until her breathing slowed and her eyes fluttered shut.
When he stood up, he carefully peeled the watch away from the tape on the notebook page.
He didn't look at me as he walked toward the door.
"Grace. Come with me."
I followed him into the long, dimly lit hallway.
Downstairs, the house was completely silent. The engagement dinner was over. The guests had fled the moment Vanessa had been escorted out by security.
Luca walked straight to his study at the end of the hall.
He pushed the heavy mahogany doors open and flicked on the desk lamp.
The room smelled of old leather and expensive scotch.
He walked behind his desk, opened the bottom drawer, and pulled out a small, locked metal lockbox.
He punched in a code.
The lid popped open.
Inside was a stack of police reports, a few photographs, and Caroline’s wedding ring.
He placed the broken silver watch next to the ring.
"The police searched the ravine for three days," Luca said, his voice terrifyingly calm. "They found her purse. Her phone. But they never found her watch. They assumed it was thrown from the vehicle during the roll."
I stood near the door, my hands trembling.
"Mr. Moretti... if Vanessa had it..."
"Then Vanessa was at the crash site."
He looked up, his dark eyes burning with a sudden, violent clarity.
"Caroline didn't drive off that road alone."
My stomach dropped.
"But they were best friends. Vanessa was devastated when she died. She was the one who helped you arrange the funeral."
"Yes," Luca said quietly. "She was."
He reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone.
He dialed a number and put it on speaker.
It rang twice before a gruff voice answered.
"Boss."
"Marcus. Where is she?"
"We escorted her to her penthouse, sir. She's inside. She's been crying hysterically, throwing things. Do you want us to bring her back?"
"No," Luca said. "Put a detail on her lobby. Do not let her leave the building. Do not let anyone in."
"Understood."
Luca hung up.
He looked at the watch again.
Then, he picked it up, running his thumb over the cracked glass face.
"Wait," he murmured.
He frowned, pulling the watch closer to the lamp.
"Grace, come here."
I walked around the desk.
He held the watch under the light.
"Look at the clasp."
I leaned in.
The metal clasp of the watch strap was bent backward, the tiny pin warped and twisted.
"It's broken," I said.
"It's not just broken," Luca said softly. "It was ripped off. By force."
He turned the watch over.
On the back of the silver casing, there were deep, jagged scratches.
But they weren't random.
Someone had tried to scrape something off.
"She was trying to remove the engraving," Luca whispered.
He tilted the watch so the light caught the remaining letters.
To C. Forever. - L.
"If she just found it at the crash, she would have kept it as a morbid souvenir," Luca said, his voice dropping to a dangerous register. "But she tried to destroy the engraving. She wanted to sell it. Or pawn it. But she couldn't, because the damage was too obvious."
He suddenly stopped.
His eyes snapped to the music box sitting on the corner of his desk.
The one Lucy said she broke.
Luca reached for it.
It was a beautiful, hand-carved mahogany box with a small silver latch.
He opened the lid.
The tiny ballerina inside didn't move. The music didn't play.
He turned the box upside down.
The small winding key was jammed sideways, intentionally bent so it couldn't turn.
"She broke it," he said. "Vanessa broke it to blame Lucy."
He pulled a small pocket knife from his desk drawer and carefully wedged the blade beneath the wooden false bottom of the music box.
With a sharp crack, the panel popped loose.
Luca froze.
Hidden in the secret compartment beneath the music mechanism was a folded piece of paper.
He slowly reached in and pulled it out.
He unfolded it.
It was a bank deposit slip.
Dated three days before Caroline died.
For two million dollars.
Transferred from Caroline's private trust account.
"Look at the signature," Luca said, his voice suddenly hollow.
I looked at the bottom of the slip.
It wasn't Caroline's signature.
It was Vanessa's.
"She didn't just let Caroline die," Luca breathed. "She stole from her. And Caroline found out."
Before he could say another word, the heavy study doors swung open behind us.
I spun around.
Standing in the doorway was a man I had never seen before.
He wore a sharp gray suit.
He had Vanessa's piercing blue eyes.
"You're making a mistake, Luca," the man said smoothly, stepping into the room.
Luca didn't look surprised. He just looked dangerous.
"Hello, Julian."
Vanessa's brother.
The lawyer who handled the Moretti family's private estates.
Julian glanced at me, his eyes full of contempt. "Dismiss the maid, Luca. We have family business to discuss."
"Grace stays," Luca said coldly. "And you have three seconds to explain how you bypassed my front gate security."
Julian smiled thinly.
"I didn't bypass them. I have clearance. I'm the executor of Caroline's trust, remember?"
He reached inside his jacket and pulled out a thick, sealed manila envelope.
"Vanessa called me crying," Julian said, tossing the envelope onto the desk. "She told me you lost your temper. She told me you found the watch."
Luca's eyes narrowed. "You knew she had it."
"Of course I knew," Julian said calmly. "Because I was the one who told her to keep it."
He tapped the manila envelope.
"You shouldn't have kicked her out, Luca. Because if Vanessa goes down for what happened that night... she's taking you with her."
May you like
Julian smiled.
"Open the envelope, Luca. Tell your little maid what you did to your wife."
