Chapter 3
Chaos erupted in the dining room. Several guests knocked over their crystal champagne flutes as they stood up in shock. The sharp sound of shattering glass pierced the heavy air, but Luca Moretti didn’t flinch.
He stood perfectly still, his eyes locked on Vanessa. The color had completely drained from his face, leaving behind a terrifying, pale fury.
“A nurse?” Luca’s voice was terrifyingly calm. “You told me you were studying art history in Florence seven years ago.”
Vanessa backed away until her spine hit the edge of the long banquet table. Her manicured hands gripped the white tablecloth like a lifeline. “Luca, you can’t possibly believe this crazy woman over me! Look at her! She’s clearly disturbed. She’s making up a story to extort you!”
“Am I?” Sarah screamed, stepping forward, her wet shoes squeaking on the marble. “You told me she didn't make it! You held my hand while I cried in that hospital bed! How could you do that? How could you steal a child?”
I felt Lucy trembling violently against my side. The little girl had buried her face into my apron, trying to block out the shouting. I wrapped both of my arms around her, wishing I could magically transport her away from this nightmare.
“Marco,” Luca said, never taking his eyes off Vanessa. “Clear the room. Every guest leaves immediately. Confiscate their phones at the door. If a single word of this leaks to the press, I’ll know who spoke.”
The wealthy elite of Chicago didn’t need to be told twice. Within three minutes, the grand dining room was entirely empty, save for Luca, Marco, Vanessa, Sarah, myself, and little Lucy. The heavy oak doors clicked shut, plunging the vast space into an unbearable, claustrophobic intimacy.
Luca slowly walked toward the head of the table. He picked up the heavy, silver engagement ring box he had presented to Vanessa just an hour earlier. With a flick of his thumb, he snapped it shut. The crack echoed like a gunshot.
“Seven years ago,” Luca began, his voice deadly quiet, “my late wife, Elena, came to me in tears of joy. She told me she had found a private, closed adoption agency that had a beautiful four-year-old girl in need of a home. We paid them two million dollars in anonymous donations. We gave Lucy a life.”
He turned his gaze to Vanessa, his eyes burning with a dark, violent intensity.
“You’re telling me,” Luca whispered, “that my wife bought a stolen child?”
Vanessa’s chest heaved. She realized the art history lie was dead. She had to pivot. “Luca, listen to me. Elena was desperate! She couldn’t give you an heir, and she knew your father was pressuring you to leave her. Yes, I worked at that clinic. Yes, I facilitated the transfer. But Elena knew! She paid me to find a child with no legal ties!”
“Don’t you dare speak her name!” Luca roared, the sudden explosion of volume making everyone in the room jump. He grabbed a crystal decanter from the table and hurled it at the fireplace. It shattered into a thousand pieces, amber liquid staining the white stone. “Elena was a good woman! She would never steal a child from its mother!”
As they argued, my mind was racing. Something didn't add up. I remembered cleaning Vanessa’s private suite yesterday morning. I had been emptying the small wastebasket near her vanity when I noticed a small, velvet-lined box shoved at the bottom, hidden beneath crumpled tissues. I had opened it, thinking it was discarded jewelry.
Instead, I had found something horrifying. I hadn't understood what it meant then, but I did now.
“Mr. Moretti,” I said, my voice shaking.
Everyone turned to look at me. I was just a maid. I wasn't supposed to speak. But I gently let go of Lucy and reached deep into the deep pocket of my uniform apron. My fingers brushed against the small object I had kept with me since yesterday, unsure of what to do with it.
I pulled it out and held it in my palm.
It was a tiny, faded plastic hospital bracelet. The kind they put on newborns. The plastic was yellowed with age, but the black ink was still perfectly legible.
“I found this in Mrs. Bellini’s trash bin yesterday,” I said, walking slowly toward Luca. I handed it to him.
Luca looked down at the tiny bracelet. His chest stopped moving.
“It says Baby Girl - Mother: Sarah,” I whispered.
Sarah let out a heartbreaking gasp, covering her mouth with both hands as she recognized the bracelet that had been cut from her baby’s wrist seven years ago.
Luca looked up from the bracelet, his eyes locking onto Vanessa with lethal intent. “You kept a trophy.”
Vanessa realized she was trapped. The elegant, weeping fiancée act vanished instantly. Her posture straightened, and a cold, ugly sneer twisted her beautiful features.
“Fine,” Vanessa said, her voice dropping the frantic pitch and settling into a hard, venomous tone. “You want the truth? Yes. I took her. Sarah couldn't afford her hospital bill, let alone raise a child. I did that girl a favor by giving her to your wealthy, pathetic wife.”
Luca lunged forward, but Marco grabbed his arm, holding his boss back. “Boss, don't. She’s not worth it.”
Vanessa laughed, stepping away from the table and smoothing down her red dress. “Oh, he won't touch me, Marco. He can't. Because if you lay one finger on me, Luca, or if you try to kick me out of this house, I will ruin everything you love.”
Luca strained against Marco’s grip. “You’re going to prison for the rest of your miserable life.”
“Am I?” Vanessa challenged, reaching into her designer clutch and pulling out her cell phone. She tapped the screen, holding it up. “I have a scheduled email ready to send to the FBI, the District Attorney, and Child Protective Services. It contains the original forged adoption papers, bearing your signature, Luca.”
The room went dead silent.
“If I don't enter my password by midnight tonight,” Vanessa smiled wickedly, “the email sends automatically. The state will immediately void the illegal adoption. You will be arrested for harboring a kidnapped child.”
Vanessa turned her cold eyes toward little Lucy, who was sobbing in the armchair.
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“And that little brat won't stay in this mansion, nor will she go with her penniless, homeless birth mother. She will become property of the state. She’ll go straight into the foster care system tonight, and neither of you will ever see her again.”
Vanessa checked her diamond watch. “It’s ten-thirty, darling. You have exactly ninety minutes to get the priest in here and put that ring on my finger. Or you lose your daughter forever.”
