Chapter 3 - THE LEDGER IN THE OFFSHORE ACCOUNT
The air in the study evaporated.
Vanessa’s confident posture shattered. She stared at me, then at the papers in my trembling hands, her face draining of all color.
"That... that has to be a clerical error," Vanessa stammered, taking a step backward. "Vance must have mixed up the case files."
"A clerical error?" Luca repeated. He didn't yell. He didn't have to. The quietness of his voice was far more dangerous. "Emma's mother lives in a subsidized apartment in the South Side. You're telling me an investigator accidentally linked her to a half-million-dollar offshore embezzlement scheme?"
"I don't know her mother!" Vanessa snapped, her voice rising in panic. "Why would I know anything about the help’s family?"
I stared at the routing numbers. My mother, Sarah, had been battling severe respiratory failure for two years. She could barely leave her bed, let alone orchestrate a massive financial fraud.
"My mother is a retired nurse," I said, my voice shaking with a mix of fear and sudden, blinding anger. "She doesn't even know how to use online banking. She pays her rent with money orders."
Luca stepped closer to Vanessa.
"You didn't hire an investigator to look into the school, did you, Vanessa?"
She backed into the edge of the desk. "Luca, I swear to you—"
"You forged these documents," Luca said, his eyes tracing the panic on her face. "You diverted the charity funds yourself. And when you needed a dummy account to park the money, you used the social security number of a sick woman you thought nobody would ever check on."
"That's a lie!" Vanessa screamed. "She's framing me! This little tramp is trying to steal your money!"
"Emma didn't bring me these papers," Luca said coldly. "You did."
He turned away from her, pulling his cell phone from his tailored jacket. He dialed a number and put it to his ear.
"Daniel," Luca said to his head of security. "Come up to the study. Bring two men. We have a thief."
Vanessa lunged forward, grabbing Luca’s arm. "You can't do this! My father is Marcus Bellini! If you humiliate me in front of those people downstairs, he will pull the shipping contracts! He will destroy your family!"
Luca looked down at her hand on his sleeve.
"Your father," Luca said softly, "is going to be very disappointed when he finds out his daughter is a sloppy criminal."
He pulled his arm away just as the heavy oak doors opened. Daniel, a massive man with a scarred chin and a tailored suit, stepped into the room.
"Sir?" Daniel asked.
"Escort Mrs. Bellini to the guest house," Luca ordered. "Take her phone. Lock the doors. She doesn't speak to anyone until I decide what to do with her."
Vanessa burst into tears, dropping the aristocratic facade entirely. "Luca, please! I had to do it! My father cut off my trust fund! I owed people money!"
"Take her," Luca said, turning his back on her.
Daniel gripped Vanessa by the elbow. She sobbed hysterically as she was led out of the room, her cries echoing down the long, carpeted hallway until the heavy doors clicked shut once more.
I stood near the fireplace, still clutching the forged bank statements. My heart was pounding so hard I felt dizzy.
Luca walked over to his desk. He poured two fingers of scotch into a crystal glass and drank it in one breath.
Then he looked at me.
"Are you alright, Emma?"
"I... I think so," I whispered. "Mr. Moretti, I promise you, my mother has nothing to do with this. We don't have that money."
"I know you don't," Luca said, his voice softening. He walked over and gently took the papers from my hand. "Vanessa is a creature of convenience. She saw your employment file. She saw your mother's medical distress. She knew a sudden influx of cash in your mother's name would just look like charity if it was ever caught."
He rubbed the bridge of his nose, looking exhausted. The ruthless mafia boss was suddenly just a man whose engagement had imploded in the span of ten minutes.
"You saved Mr. Harlan's dignity tonight," Luca said quietly. "And you saved me from marrying a parasite. Thank you."
"You're welcome, sir."
"Take tomorrow off. Go see your mother. Make sure she's okay."
"Thank you."
I turned to leave, my hand resting on the brass doorknob. But as I opened the door, a small, silver object caught my eye.
It was wedged under the edge of the Persian rug, right where Vanessa had been standing when Daniel dragged her away.
I bent down and picked it up.
It was an antique silver pocket watch. The chain was broken.
"Mr. Moretti?" I asked, holding it up. "Did Vanessa drop this?"
Luca turned.
The moment he saw the watch, the color completely drained from his face. The glass of scotch slipped from his hand, shattering against the hardwood floor.
"Where did you get that?" Luca breathed, taking a step toward me as if I were holding a live grenade.
"It was on the floor," I stammered, backing up. "It must have fallen out of Vanessa's pocket."
Luca reached out and took the watch. His hands were trembling.
He didn't open it. He just stared at the intricate engraving on the back.
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"This didn't belong to Vanessa," Luca whispered, his eyes wide with a sudden, terrifying realization. "This watch belonged to my father. He was wearing it the night he was murdered fifteen years ago."
TITLE: THE WATCH FROM THE NIGHT HE DIED
