Chapter 7 - VANESSA’S LAST MOVE
Vanessa’s car was tracked to a private hangar outside Chicago. Daniel
sent two teams to the airport, but Vincent ordered them not to approach
until local authorities were notified. The recordings and hospital
documents were now in the hands of the district attorney.
Vanessa had spent years believing that the Moretti name would protect
her. This time, Vincent intended to let the law decide.
She was stopped before boarding a private plane. In her handbag,
investigators found the original trust papers, a passport under another
name, and a list of accounts connected to Dr. Shaw.
When Vincent called me, his voice was controlled.
“She has been taken in for questioning.”
“Is Elena safe?”
“Yes. Gabriel is with Margaret. Daniel has guards at both locations.”
“And the baby?”
“Your baby is safe. Dr. Harris checked in this morning.”
I let out a breath I hadn’t realized I was holding.
That evening, Vincent came to my apartment. He brought no guards inside,
only a small paper bag.
“I repaired the airplane,” he said.
He showed me a photograph. The wooden wing had been fixed and polished.
The little plane looked almost new.
“Gabriel was thrilled,” he added. “He said you were right. Broken things
can be repaired.”
I smiled.
“Not all things.”
“No,” Vincent said. “But some.”
He sat across from me. For the first time, he looked less like the head
of a powerful family and more like a man who had been given back
something he thought was gone forever.
“Vanessa told the investigators that she acted under my father’s
orders,” he said. “She claims she never wanted to hurt Elena.”
“Do you believe her?”
“I believe she made choices. She helped conceal a child. She helped keep
a woman confined. She threatened you. Whatever my father ordered, she
chose to participate.”
I nodded.
He looked toward my stomach.
“Have you thought about what happens after the baby is born?”
“I’ll raise her. That’s what I’ve been planning all along.”
“Alone?”
I looked at him carefully.
“I lost my husband. I don’t need another person promising things because
he feels guilty.”
Vincent accepted the words without protest.
“I understand. I won’t make promises I can’t keep.”
He told me he had arranged a trust for my daughter, but I refused to
accept anything without an independent lawyer reviewing it. He agreed
immediately.
Then he said something unexpected.
“I want you to stay at the mansion until the investigation is over. Not
as an employee. As a guest. You and your child will have protection,
medical care, and privacy. You can leave whenever you choose.”
I considered it.
The thought of returning to the mansion frightened me. But the thought
of being alone while someone still wanted to silence me frightened me
more.
“I’ll come for a few days,” I said. “On my terms.”
“On your terms,” he repeated.
Before he left, he placed a small envelope on the table. Inside was a
photograph of Elena, Vincent, and Gabriel together. They were standing
in the garden, Gabriel holding his repaired airplane.
On the back, Elena had written:
Thank you for refusing to look away.
I held the photograph for a long time.
For the first time, the mansion did not feel like a place full of
May you like
secrets. It felt like a place where the truth might finally have room to
breathe.
