Chapter 6 - THE WOMAN WHO WAS THERE THAT NIGHT
“Vanessa was at the mansion the night Caroline went to the hospital?”
Richard looked as stunned as Luca.
Benjamin sat on his bed, watching the adults.
I could see his eyes moving from one frightened face to another.
Luca folded the note.
“Emily, would you stay with him?”
I nodded.
But Benjamin grabbed his father's hand.
“Daddy, don't go away mad.”
Luca stopped.
The little boy looked genuinely worried.
“Mommy used to say people make bad choices when they're mad.”
For a moment, Luca couldn't speak.
Then he sat beside his son.
“She was right.”
He brushed Benjamin's hair away from his forehead.
“I'm upset about something that happened a long time ago. But I'm not upset with you.”
Benjamin leaned against him.
“Are you coming back?”
“I'm staying right here until you fall asleep.”
Luca kept that promise.
For nearly twenty minutes, he sat beside the bed while Benjamin slowly drifted off.
I remained in the chair by the window.
Neither of us spoke.
Finally, Benjamin's breathing settled.
Luca stood carefully.
At the doorway, he looked back.
For the first time since I'd worked in the mansion, I saw him hesitate to leave his son's room.
Then he turned to me.
“Emily, I need to speak with Vanessa.”
“Of course, sir.”
He looked exhausted.
“Please stop calling me sir when we're alone.”
I blinked.
“I'm sorry.”
A faint smile touched his face.
“Emily is fine. Luca is fine.”
It was a small change.
But somehow it made the terrible night feel a little less lonely.
Downstairs, Vanessa sat in the morning room, still wearing her red engagement gown.
The guests were gone.
Margaret had left after arranging to halt Benjamin's transportation and secure the placement records.
Anthony Bellini sat near the fireplace.
Richard stood by the windows.
Daniel remained under the supervision of Luca's security team.
Luca entered holding Caroline's watch.
Vanessa's eyes went directly to it.
I noticed the recognition before she could hide it.
“Where did you get that?” she whispered.
Luca placed it on the table.
“Caroline kept it in Benjamin's toy chest.”
Vanessa looked away.
“Why?”
“Because she left something inside.”
Her expression tightened.
Luca unfolded the note.
“Why were you at my house the night my wife was hospitalized?”
Anthony rose from his chair.
“Luca, this is becoming absurd.”
“Sit down, Anthony.”
The older man hesitated.
Then he obeyed.
Vanessa stared at the watch.
“I came to see Caroline.”
Richard frowned.
“You told me you stopped speaking to her months before.”
“I lied.”
“Why?” Luca asked.
Vanessa's eyes filled.
“Because she threatened to expose my father.”
Luca stared at her.
“She was trying to protect her home.”
“I know.”
“Then why were you there?”
Vanessa rubbed her hands together.
“She wanted the original financing agreement. She believed I could persuade Dad to return it.”
“Could you?”
“No.”
“Did you tell her that?”
Vanessa nodded.
“She became angry. She said if I didn't help, she'd bring everything to you.”
Luca leaned forward.
“And?”
Vanessa's voice trembled.
“I told her I was afraid you would ruin my family.”
Richard looked disgusted.
“You knew Dad had forged documents, and you were worried about us?”
Vanessa turned toward him.
“You weren't there when the bank threatened to call every loan. You weren't there when Mom sold her jewelry to cover payroll.”
Richard shook his head.
“That doesn't excuse what happened to Caroline.”
“I didn't say it did!”
Her voice cracked.
Then she looked at Luca.
“I made a terrible mistake that night.”
The room went still.
“What mistake?” Luca asked.
Vanessa closed her eyes.
“Caroline was having chest pain. She wanted to call you.”
Luca's face changed.
“And?”
“I told her she was having a panic attack.”
I felt sick.
Vanessa swallowed.
“She was upset. I thought if she calmed down, we could finish talking.”
Richard stared at his sister.
“Vanessa.”
“I know!”
She covered her mouth.
“I know what you're thinking.”
Luca didn't move.
“Did you stop her from calling an ambulance?”
“No.”
“Did you call one?”
“Not immediately.”
The admission hung in the air.
Vanessa began crying.
“I was frightened. I didn't understand how serious it was. When she became dizzy, I told Daniel to call emergency services.”
Luca looked toward Daniel.
“Is that true?”
Daniel nodded slowly.
“She told me Caroline wasn't feeling well.”
“And the gate?”
Daniel looked at Anthony.
The older man stared into the fireplace.
Luca followed his gaze.
“Anthony.”
For the first time, the older businessman looked genuinely old.
“The gate was closed because I told security to keep Caroline from leaving with the documents.”
Richard stared at his father.
“You did what?”
Anthony's voice was flat.
“I believed she was trying to destroy the company. I wanted her to speak to me before she went anywhere.”
Luca stepped toward him.
“My wife needed an ambulance.”
“I didn't know she was ill.”
“But Vanessa did.”
Anthony looked at his daughter.
Vanessa shook her head.
“I tried to reach you.”
Richard's face hardened.
“You called Dad instead of making sure the ambulance could get through?”
Vanessa began sobbing.
“I was twenty-nine years old. I was scared. I thought everyone was going to lose everything.”
Luca's voice was barely audible.
“And Caroline?”
Nobody answered.
He turned away.
I had never seen grief settle over a person so suddenly.
For two years, he'd believed Caroline's final medical emergency had simply been impossible to prevent.
Now he knew people had made choices that may have delayed her care.
He also knew that learning the truth would not bring her back.
A long silence passed.
Then Luca spoke.
“I'm going to have these events investigated. The emergency records, the gate instructions, everything.”
Anthony lifted his head.
“You know what that could do to my family.”
Luca looked at him.
“Yes.”
Richard stepped beside his father.
“You need to stop talking until we understand the records.”
Anthony looked furious.
But he said nothing.
I noticed Vanessa watching Luca.
There was something desperate in her expression.
“Luca,” she whispered, “I never wanted Caroline to die.”
He turned.
“Then why did you lie to me for two years?”
She wiped her cheeks.
“Because I knew that if you discovered I was there, you'd never look at me the same way.”
“And you thought marrying me would fix that?”
“No.”
“Then what?”
Vanessa hesitated.
“I loved you.”
Luca looked almost surprised.
She continued.
“I know you don't believe me. But I did. I loved the way you tried to keep your family together after Caroline died. I thought if I could make you happy, maybe something good could come out of everything.”
I watched him absorb that.
Then he asked the question that mattered most.
“Where did Benjamin fit into your happy future?”
Vanessa lowered her eyes.
“I thought he'd adjust.”
“To being sent away?”
She couldn't answer.
Luca removed the engagement ring from the table where Vanessa had placed it earlier.
He set it beside Caroline's watch.
“Our engagement is over.”
Vanessa began crying again.
This time, Luca didn't reach for her.
“I'll make sure you can collect your personal belongings. But you won't be living here.”
She nodded slowly.
For a moment, I thought the evening's worst discoveries were finally over.
Then Richard looked down at Caroline's watch.
“Luca.”
“What?”
Richard pointed toward the engraved back.
“Did Caroline wear this when she went to the hospital?”
Luca frowned.
“No. She'd stopped wearing it months earlier.”
Richard looked at Vanessa.
“Then how did she know about the gate order before that night happened?”
Everyone went silent.
Luca slowly picked up the note again.
The paper was old.
But the handwriting looked unusually dark.
And suddenly I noticed something else.
Caroline's note had been folded around a tiny printed label.
It carried a date.
Not the date of her hospitalization.
A date from six months afterward.
Richard stared at it.
“Luca,” he whispered, “somebody opened that watch after Caroline died.”
Vanessa stopped crying.
Luca looked at the label.
Then at Daniel.
And Daniel's face drained of color.
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Because printed across the label were three words:
PRICE ESTATE SERVICES.
