Chapter 7 - THE CONFESSION IN THE RAIN
Luca snatched the memory card from my hand.
He stared at the handwritten note, his chest heaving as the rain poured over them.
Elena coughed, her eyelids fluttering.
“Elena,” Luca whispered, gripping her cold hand.
She looked up at him, her vision blurry. When she realized who was holding her, tears instantly filled her eyes.
“Luca,” she rasped, her voice rough from the smoke. “You… you’ve grown.”
“I’ve got you,” Luca said fiercely. “You’re safe now.”
Elena weakly shook her head, grabbing his lapel. “No. The lawyer. He’s here.”
“I know. I’ll handle him.”
“You don’t understand,” she cried, fighting for breath. “He didn’t come to steal the files. He came to destroy them. The trust fund… Dad left it all to me. To protect you from the Bellinis.”
Luca froze.
“What?”
“Dad knew Vanessa’s family was plotting a hostile takeover. They needed to marry you to merge the estates. But Dad secretly transferred the controlling shares into a blind trust in my name before he died. Vanessa found out.”
Frank placed a hand on Luca’s shoulder.
“That’s why she wouldn’t let you open the garden house, son. The trust documents were in your father’s safe.”
Suddenly, a sharp clap echoed from the patio.
We all turned.
Standing beneath the awning, perfectly dry, was Vanessa.
Beside her stood the man in the dark suit. The lawyer. He was holding a gun.
“How touching,” Vanessa said loudly, her voice devoid of the panic she’d faked earlier.
Luca gently laid Elena back on the grass and stood up, placing himself between the gun and his sister.
“You set the fire,” Luca said.
“I had no choice,” Vanessa sighed, checking her manicured nails. “She wouldn’t take the money. She wouldn’t just walk away and let us be a family.”
“You murdered my father,” Luca said, taking a slow step forward.
“Oh, please. Your father was a weak old man who couldn't see the future of this empire,” Vanessa sneered. “My father simply expedited the inevitable.”
The lawyer raised the gun, aiming it at Luca’s chest.
“Hand over the memory card, Moretti. And the trust papers.”
“Or what?” Luca challenged, not stopping his slow advance. “You shoot me? In front of fifty guests inside?”
“The guests are busy drinking in the ballroom,” Vanessa smiled. “And tragically, you died bravely trying to save a trespassing homeless woman from a terrible fire.”
The lawyer clicked the safety off.
I panicked. I had to do something.
I reached into my apron pocket and grabbed the heavy brass key—the garden house key Frank had placed on the table earlier.
With all my strength, I hurled it at the lawyer’s face.
It didn't hit him, but it clattered loudly against the stone pillar next to him.
The lawyer flinched, looking away for one split second.
That was all Luca needed.
He lunged.
He hit the man like a freight train, tackling him onto the wet stone patio. The gun fired into the air, the gunshot swallowed by a massive clap of thunder.
Vanessa screamed, turning to run.
But a heavy wooden walking stick swept her legs out from under her.
She crashed to the ground in her ruined red dress.
Frank stood over her, his expression hard as stone.
“You aren't going anywhere,” Frank growled.
Luca wrestled the gun from the lawyer, pinning the man to the ground with a knee to the chest.
He pointed the weapon down at him, breathing heavily.
Suddenly, the glass doors to the sitting room burst open.
Marcus, the security guard, ran out with his weapon drawn, followed by three other guards.
They stopped dead in their tracks, taking in the scene.
“Mr. Moretti!” Marcus yelled.
Luca didn't look up. He kept the gun aimed at the lawyer.
“Arrest them both,” Luca ordered, his voice echoing with absolute authority. “And call the police.”
The guards rushed forward, hauling Vanessa and the lawyer to their feet.
Vanessa thrashed wildly, screaming at the top of her lungs.
“This isn't over, Luca! My family will destroy you! You hear me?!”
But Luca wasn't listening.
He dropped the gun on the patio and walked back to the grass.
He knelt beside Elena and carefully lifted her into his arms.
“Let’s go home,” he whispered.
May you like
But as he carried her toward the house, Elena’s hand weakly grasped his collar.
“Luca… wait. There’s one more thing you need to know about Lily.”
