Chapter 4: The Letter Beneath the Angel
I held the envelope without breaking the seal.
“You knew it was here,” I said.
Vivien remained in the chapel doorway.
“Your mother showed it to me.”
Isabella leaned against Elena.
“I have never seen that compartment.”
“Then how did your key reach Vivien’s coat?” I asked.
Vivien looked at Mia.
“Because that child put it there.”
Mia buried her face against Elena’s skirt.
Elena’s voice shook.
“She is three years old.”
“And she’s already learned to lie from you.”
“Enough,” I said.
I opened the envelope.
The first page was a letter from my father.
The second was a copy of the trust instructions.
Rocco read over my shoulder.
“Mrs.
Duca’s signature is required in person for any transfer over fifty thousand dollars.”
“Six transfers,” I said.
“Each for forty-nine thousand.”
Vivien’s mouth tightened.
I lifted the forged forms.
“You stayed below the limit.”
“You can’t prove I completed them.”
“Elena’s signature appears on every page.”
“That proves she did it.”
Elena stepped forward.
“I never saw those papers.”
“You cleaned Isabella’s room,” Vivien said.
“You knew where everything was.”
Isabella caught my sleeve.
“Lorenzo, she told me Elena was stealing.”
I looked at my mother.
“Why didn’t you call me?”
Vivien answered first.
“Because she knew you would overreact.”
“I asked my mother.”
Isabella’s grip tightened.
“Vivien said Elena would lose Mia if the police came.
She said everyone would believe her because Elena was only a maid.”
Elena covered her mouth.
My mother looked directly at me.
“And I believed that last part.”
“Why?”
“Because this house fears your anger more than it trusts your protection.”
The letter trembled in my hand.
“Elena came to me three months ago,” Isabella continued.
“She tried to speak.
You walked past with six men behind you, and she lowered her eyes.”
Elena began to cry.
“I thought if I accused the woman you loved, you would send us away.”
I put the letter on the altar before I crushed it.
“Mia trusted me before either of you did.”
“She had nothing left to lose,” Elena whispered.
That sentence struck harder than any accusation.
A knock came from the chapel entrance.
Two uniformed officers stood behind a gray-haired woman holding a warrant.
“I’m Inspector Mercer,” she said.
“We received a report concerning theft from the Duca residence.”
Vivien’s shoulders relaxed.
“Inspector,” she said, “thank goodness you’re here.”
Mercer looked at Elena.
“We need to search your room.”
“You filed the report,” I said to Vivien.
“I protected your family when you refused to see what was in front of you.”
Rocco stepped between Mercer and the corridor.
“No one moves without counsel.”
Mercer held up the warrant.
“Then call your counsel.”
Elena took Mia’s hand.
“Please don’t frighten her.”
Vivien bent toward the child.
“This is what happens when people take things that aren’t theirs.”
“Move away from Mia,” I said.
Mercer’s team returned ten minutes later with a velvet box and a folder.
Isabella gasped.
“Those are my emeralds.”
The officer opened the folder.
Inside were copies of every transfer form.
“Found beneath Elena’s mattress,” he said.
“That isn’t mine,” Elena whispered.
Vivien turned to me.
“Now will you believe me?”
Inspector Mercer stepped toward Elena.
Mia wrapped both arms around her mother’s knees.
“No,” she cried.
“Pretty lady put it there.”
Mercer paused, but the officer reached for Elena’s wrist.
May you like
Mia looked at me through her tears.
“Uncle Lorenzo, don’t let them take Mommy.”
