Chapter 16 - The Cousin Who Stayed Away
Anthony Moretti arrived at the estate without calling.
He came just before noon in a black town car, wearing a tailored navy
suit and carrying no luggage. The gate guards recognized him
immediately. He had spent years attending family dinners, board
meetings, and holiday gatherings, but he had not visited since Luca
ended the engagement and the criminal case began.
Luca watched him through the security monitor.
“Do you want me to send him away?” the supervisor asked.
“No. Let him in. Keep the front entrance covered.”
Anthony stepped into the foyer as if he still belonged there. He looked
around at the restored walls, the new lighting, and the absence of the
portrait that had once hidden Lily’s room.
“Quite a renovation,” he said.
“It’s not a renovation. It’s a correction.”
Anthony’s eyes moved toward the staircase. “How is Lily?”
“Fine. She’s at school.”
“I’m glad.”
Luca did not offer him a drink.
“Why did you hire Andrew Pike?”
Anthony’s expression barely changed. “I didn’t hire him.”
“Pike says you did.”
“Pike says whatever keeps him out of prison.”
“He’s already cooperating. The payments came from a company you
controlled.”
Anthony exhaled. “I paid a consultant to review the trust. I did not pay
anyone to threaten Hannah.”
“You knew he was taking photographs.”
“I knew he was investigating the people around you.”
“She’s not a suspect.”
“I didn’t say she was.”
“You let someone follow her.”
Anthony looked toward the window. “Luca, you have to understand what
happened after the trial. The family name was damaged. The company was
exposed. Investors were nervous. People were asking whether you were
capable of managing anything beyond your own grief.”
“So you decided to manage my family?”
“I decided to protect the business.”
“By paying a man who had helped imprison my daughter?”
Anthony’s jaw tightened. “I did not know the full extent of what Pike
had done.”
“You knew enough.”
For a moment, Anthony looked genuinely angry. “You think I wanted any of
this? Your father put me in charge of keeping the company alive while
you were busy trying to fix a disaster you helped create.”
Luca stepped closer. “Be careful.”
Anthony held his gaze. “You were absent, Luca. You were distracted. You
trusted the wrong people. The rest of us had to clean up.”
The words struck because they contained a piece of truth. Luca had been
absent. He had allowed other people to control the house and the family
office. But that did not make Anthony’s actions acceptable.
“I made mistakes,” Luca said. “I am not handing you the right to make
new ones.”
Anthony’s expression shifted. “Then give me access to the trust records.
Let me show you what Pike was actually doing.”
“No.”
“Your refusal could cost you.”
“Then explain the cost to the court.”
Anthony stared at him.
“You’ve changed,” he said.
“I hope so.”
Anthony left without another word.
Hannah had been listening from the hall. When Luca turned, he saw her.
“You heard.”
“Enough.”
“I should have told you he was coming.”
“Yes.”
He accepted the criticism. “I’m sorry.”
“Do you believe Pike?”
“I believe he was paid by Anthony. I don’t know whether Anthony ordered
the photographs or whether he gave Pike permission to use whatever
methods he wanted.”
“That’s still a lot not to know.”
“I know.”
Hannah looked toward the front door. “You have to stop letting people
decide that the family name matters more than the people living inside
the house.”
Luca nodded. “I’m trying.”
That afternoon, Rebecca called with a new development. The company that
paid Pike had also funded a private security assessment of the estate.
The report included photographs of Hannah, a list of Lily’s school
activities, and a schedule of the household staff.
Luca felt his stomach tighten.
“Was the school schedule current?”
“Some of it,” Rebecca said. “We have no evidence that anyone approached
the school.”
“Destroy every copy.”
“Not until the police finish reviewing it.”
He closed his eyes.
Hannah stood across the office, watching him.
“What’s wrong?”
“Pike had a list of Lily’s activities.”
“Did he know where she was?”
“Some of the schedule was outdated. We don’t know how much he knew.”
Hannah’s expression hardened. “Then the school needs to know.”
“I’ll call the principal.”
“And I want to speak with her teacher. I don’t want Lily hearing rumors
from another child.”
Luca nodded. “We’ll do it together.”
That evening, they met with the school principal. The principal agreed
to update the authorized pickup list, restrict access to Lily’s
schedule, and contact Luca directly if anyone asked unusual questions.
On the drive home, Lily sat in the back seat, singing to herself.
“Are we in trouble?” she asked suddenly.
Luca looked at her in the mirror. “No, sweetheart.”
“Then why did we talk to the principal?”
“Sometimes grown-ups check that everything is safe. It doesn’t mean
something bad is happening.”
Lily thought about it.
“Like checking the door?”
“Exactly.”
She leaned back against her seat.
At home, Hannah read her a story while Luca spoke with Rebecca. When he
returned, he found Lily asleep with Mr. Carrot under her chin and Hannah
sitting quietly beside the bed.
“She asked if people were going to come back,” Hannah whispered.
“What did you tell her?”
“That the house is safe, that the grown-ups are handling it, and that
she can always tell us if she feels worried.”
Luca sat on the edge of the chair.
“I hate that she has to ask.”
“Then keep giving her reasons not to be afraid.”
He looked at Hannah. “I don’t know what I would do without you.”
She held his gaze. “You would learn. You have to know that.”
He nodded.
Before Hannah left for the night, Luca told her the employment agreement
had been updated to guarantee her position independent of any personal
relationship. He also offered to arrange a separate reporting structure
through Rebecca.
“Thank you,” she said. “That matters.”
He hesitated. “I don’t want you to think I’m trying to hold on to you.”
“I don’t.”
“Good.”
She put on her coat.
At the door, she turned back. “Luca, if Anthony is responsible, don’t
let your anger make you careless.”
“I won’t.”
“You have a daughter who needs you calm.”
“I know.”
Hannah left.
Luca returned to his office and found a new email from Anthony.
The subject line read: You don’t know what your father signed.
Attached was a scanned document dated three months before Lily’s room
had been discovered.
It contained a clause transferring temporary control of the trust to
Anthony in the event that Luca was declared emotionally unfit to manage
it.
After Anthony left, Luca did not immediately tell the staff what had
happened. He first called Rebecca and asked her to verify the document’s
origin. Then he requested that the family office preserve every record
connected to his father’s estate planning.
The clause was not a simple transfer. It was written to activate if Luca
was declared unable to manage his affairs by two named family advisers.
Anthony was one of them. The second adviser had died years earlier, but
the document did not specify what would happen if one adviser was
unavailable.
Rebecca explained that the clause might never have been enforceable. It
could still have been used to create a public dispute and pressure the
board.
“Your father may have believed it was a safety measure,” she said. “But
the language gave Anthony a path to challenge your authority.”
“Why would my father think I needed a guardian?”
“Perhaps he worried about your judgment. Perhaps someone convinced him
you were becoming unstable. We need the original notes.”
Luca asked for them.
While Rebecca searched, he went to the kitchen and found Hannah
preparing Lily’s lunch. He told her about Anthony’s visit and showed her
the clause.
Hannah read it carefully.
“Did your father know Anthony would use it?”
“I don’t know.”
“Then don’t decide what it means until you know.”
Luca looked at her. “I keep wanting to believe my father would never
have helped him.”
“Maybe he didn’t understand. Maybe he did. Either way, the truth is not
changed by what you wish were true.”
He nodded.
That afternoon, he called the family archivist and asked for every
letter his father had written to Anthony during the year before the
engagement dinner. He also asked for the minutes from the board meetings
where the trust had been discussed.
The archivist promised to search the off-site records.
For the first time, Luca did not ask the staff to keep the matter quiet.
He asked them to document everything and share it with Rebecca.
He was learning that transparency could be uncomfortable without being
dangerous.
At dinner, Lily asked why he was looking at papers again.
“I’m making sure your future is protected,” he said.
“Can I help?”
“You can help me by telling me what you want to do when you grow up.”
“I want to make gardens.”
“Then I’ll make sure you have room to learn how.”
Hannah looked at him across the table.
May you like
It was a small answer, but it was the right one.
And beneath the clause was Luca’s father’s signature.
