Chapter 2 - THE NAME IN THE LEDGER
Daniel returned with a leather folder and a tablet.
Luca took both.
“Show me.”
Daniel opened the account history. The transfer had been authorized by Luca on Monday morning. By Tuesday afternoon, the money had been moved into a private consulting account registered to a company called Northbridge Research.
Luca read the details twice.
“Who approved the second transfer?”
Daniel looked uncomfortable.
“Miss Bellini's credentials were used.”
Vanessa folded her arms.
“I told you. I moved it.”
“You used money intended for a dying woman's treatment to hire an investigator?”
“I needed to know what your father had hidden.”
Luca looked up.
“What did you find?”
Vanessa's mouth tightened.
“A birth record.”
The words landed like a stone.
I took a step backward.
“My birth record?”
She nodded.
“Your mother kept a copy of an old letter. The investigator found it in her apartment.”
Luca held out his hand.
“Give it to me.”
“I don't have it.”
“Where is it?”
“With my attorney.”
Luca turned to Daniel.
“Find the investigator. Get the original report.”
Vanessa laughed bitterly.
“You think you can order everyone around and make this disappear?”
“No. I think you can explain why you used my money to investigate a member of my family.”
He turned toward me.
“Grace, your mother and my father knew each other before you were born.”
I swallowed.
“Were they friends?”
Luca didn't answer immediately.
“My father had a relationship with her.”
The room fell silent.
I stared at him.
“No.”
“I am sorry.”
“No. My mother would have told me.”
“She may have wanted to. But she was afraid.”
“Afraid of what?”
Luca glanced at the guests.
“Daniel, clear the room. The dinner is over.”
Chairs scraped. Guests gathered their coats and left in uneasy silence. Vanessa remained beside the table.
When the last guest had gone, Luca looked at her.
“You too.”
She didn't move.
“Luca, we're engaged.”
“Not anymore.”
Her face went white.
He turned to Daniel.
“Take her to the sitting room. She can collect her things with an escort. No one is to threaten her or touch her.”
Vanessa stared at him.
“You're choosing her over me?”
“I'm choosing the truth over another lie.”
Daniel escorted her out.
Only then did Luca sit down.
I remained standing.
“Tell me,” I said. “What was my mother to your father?”
Luca rubbed a hand over his face.
“My father was your biological father, Grace.”
For a few seconds, I heard nothing.
The chandeliers seemed to blur above me.
“That's not possible.”
“I wish it weren't true.”
I looked at the black ribbon on the table.
“Then you're saying…”
“You and I share the same father.”
I backed away.
“No.”
Luca didn't move toward me.
“I know this is a shock.”
“You're my brother?”
“Yes.”
May you like
The word was quiet.
But it changed everything.
