Chapter 3: The Man Sarah Never Trusted
The man in the doorway removed his gray gloves one finger at a time.
“Damian Cross,” Luca said.
“You’re not welcome in my home.”
Damian had managed the Moretti family trust until six months after Sarah’s passing.
Luca had dismissed him when three original documents disappeared from the family archive.
Damian slipped the gloves into his coat.
“This stopped being a family dinner when you took Vanessa’s private phone.”
“You sent that message.”
“I advise her.”
“You advised her to reduce my son’s inheritance?”
Vanessa moved beside Damian.
“Luca, give me my phone.”
“Unlock it.”
“No.”
Damian placed a leather folder on the table.
“You may want to read this before you embarrass yourself further.”
Luca opened it.
His thumb stopped on the final page.
“That’s my signature.”
“Exactly,” Vanessa said.
“You approved the trust review.”
“I approved a review of the investment fees.
I never approved changing Matteo’s share.”
Damian tapped a paragraph above the signature.
“You authorized any amendment necessary to protect the Moretti estate after marriage.”
Luca’s chair scraped against the floor.
“That sentence wasn’t there when I signed it.”
Damian smiled.
“Then prove it.”
Matteo looked between them.
“Dad, can they take Mom’s trust away from me?”
“No one is taking anything from you.”
Vanessa folded her arms.
“Stop frightening him, Luca.
The money would remain in the family.”
“He is the family.”
“And what about the children we planned to have?”
“We never discussed taking from Matteo to provide for children who don’t exist.”
Damian closed the folder.
“This conversation is over.
The amendment was properly prepared and witnessed.”
“By whom?”
“Two members of my staff.”
“The same staff who lost Sarah’s documents?”
Damian’s smile vanished.
I stepped toward the table.
“The envelope I saw had your firm’s name on it.”
“And why were you examining Vanessa’s belongings?”
“I was clearing the breakfast room.”
“You were spying.”
“No.
I noticed a document about a child whose chair had just been removed.”
Vanessa pointed toward the service door.
“Luca, dismiss her now.”
Luca didn’t look at me.
“Claire stays.”
“She has interfered in our relationship all evening.”
“She protected my son while you were planning around him.”
Vanessa’s fingers tightened around the back of a chair.
“You’re choosing a maid over your future wife?”
“I’m choosing the truth.
If that places Claire on one side and you on the other, you put yourself there.”
A woman at the far end of the table stood.
Evelyn Moretti was Luca’s aunt, and I had never heard her defend a member of staff.
“I saw Vanessa in Luca’s study last Sunday,” she said.
Vanessa turned sharply.
“I was looking for him.”
“No, dear.
You were holding his signature stamp.”
Damian reached for his folder.
“A family disagreement is not evidence.”
Evelyn blocked his hand with her cane.
“Sit down.
You arrived without an invitation, yet you seem remarkably prepared.”
“Move your cane.”
“Make me.”
Two guests lowered their glasses.
Damian slowly withdrew his hand.
Matteo tugged at Luca’s sleeve.
“I heard his voice before.”
“Whose voice?”
“Damian’s.
He was here yesterday.”
Vanessa stared at him.
“You were supposed to be at school.”
“The dentist sent me home early.”
“What did you hear?” Luca asked.
Matteo pulled his phone from his pocket.
“I was recording sound for my history project.
I forgot to stop it when I came inside.”
Vanessa lunged for the phone.
Luca caught her wrist before she reached it.
“Don’t.”
Matteo pressed the screen, and Damian’s recorded voice filled the room.
“Once Luca signs, the boy loses control at twenty-one.
Vanessa becomes co-trustee immediately.”
Then Vanessa’s voice followed.
“And Sarah’s letter?”
A chair creaked as every guest leaned closer.
May you like
Damian’s recorded answer was barely a whisper.
“Find it before Luca remembers it exists.”
