Chapter 3 - The Man Who Was Supposed to Be Dead

The engagement dinner ended.

No dessert.

No speeches.

No ring photographs.

Guests left quietly.

Luca told Vanessa to stay.

She did.

Teresa stayed too.

So did I.

My name was Emma Reed.

And somehow I was still holding the chipped plate.

Luca looked at it.

Then at me.

"Put it back."

I returned it to his place.

The old plate.

Blue rim.

One chip.

The most important object in the room.

Luca called security.

Twenty minutes later, Arthur Bellini was brought into the library.

Eighty-four.

Thin.

Gray hair.

Cane.

Alive.

Vanessa stood when he entered.

"Grandpa."

Arthur looked at her.

Then at Luca.

"I wondered when Teresa would finally do it."

Teresa stared.

"Do what?"

"Choose him over the secret."

Luca stepped closer.

"Sit."

Arthur did.

Luca placed the photograph of the crash on the table.

"You were there."

"Yes."

"Why?"

"Your mother called me."

"When?"

"That afternoon."

"What did she want?"

"To leave."

"With me?"

Arthur looked down.

"No."

Luca's face changed.

"Without me."

"At first."

Silence.

Teresa looked shocked.

Luca's voice hardened.

"Explain."

Arthur took a breath.

"Lucia believed Marco would follow if she took you."

"So she was going to abandon me."

"No."

Arthur looked at him.

"She was going to leave first."

"Then fight for you legally."

Luca laughed bitterly.

"Against my father."

"Yes."

"Did she think she could win?"

"No."

"Then why?"

"Because staying was killing her."

That sentence stayed in the room.

Luca looked at Teresa.

His aunt cried silently.

Arthur continued:

"I arranged a car."

"A safe house."

"A lawyer."

"And money."

Luca pointed at the statements.

"That money."

"Yes."

"Why were you helping her?"

Arthur hesitated.

Vanessa looked at him.

"Tell him."

Arthur closed his eyes.

"Because I loved her."

Silence.

Vanessa sat down.

Teresa stared.

Luca did not react at first.

Then:

"You loved my mother."

"Yes."

"Before my father?"

"Before she married him."

Luca's jaw tightened.

"Were you together?"

Arthur shook his head.

"No."

"Did my father know?"

"Eventually."

"Did he hate you?"

"Yes."

"Did you hate him?"

Arthur looked at the floor.

"Yes."

Luca leaned closer.

"So when my mother died in a crash while escaping my father, you were there."

"Yes."

"That looks convenient."

Arthur nodded.

"It does."

"Did you cause the crash?"

"No."

"Did Marco?"

"No."

Luca frowned.

Arthur continued:

"The brakes failed."

"Sabotage?"

"Yes."

"Who?"

Arthur looked at Vanessa.

Then Teresa.

Then Luca.

"I thought Marco."

"For how long?"

"Twenty-five years."

"And now?"

Arthur reached into his coat.

A folded police report.

"Now I know I was wrong."

Luca opened it.

Private forensic review.

Completed eighteen months ago.

Brake line cut manually.

Tool marks.

Fingerprint fragment recovered from a metal fitting.

No match at the time.

Recent match:

ANTHONY BELLINI.

Vanessa went pale.

"My father."

Luca looked at her.

Her father, Anthony Bellini.

Fifty-eight.

Real-estate developer.

Luca's future father-in-law.

The man scheduled to give a toast that evening.

Luca stared.

"Your father killed my mother."

Vanessa shook her head immediately.

"No."

Arthur said:

"He cut the brake line."

"Why?"

Vanessa stood.

"Grandpa."

Arthur looked at her.

"You already know."

She began crying.

Luca turned.

"You knew."

"Three months."

"Three months."

"Yes."

"Why did your father do it?"

Vanessa looked at Arthur.

Then whispered:

"He was seventeen."

Luca frowned.

"Seventeen."

Arthur nodded.

"Marco had been paying him."

Silence.

"To watch Lucia."

Luca stared.

"My father recruited a seventeen-year-old."

"Yes."

"Your son."

Arthur closed his eyes.

"Yes."

Luca asked:

"Did Anthony know cutting the line would kill her?"

Arthur whispered:

"He says no."

Vanessa looked at Luca.

"He says Marco told him to damage the car so she couldn't leave."

Luca's voice went cold.

"And instead she drove it."

Arthur nodded.

"Yes."

Luca looked away.

The crime had no clean villain.

A violent husband.

A frightened teenager.

A man in love with someone else's wife.

A woman trying to escape.

Vanessa whispered:

"My father has lived with it his entire life."

Luca turned.

"And I lived without my mother."

She stopped.

Luca looked at Arthur.

"Why fake your death?"

Arthur answered:

"Because Anthony found the report."

"When?"

"Eleven years ago."

"And?"

"He threatened to confess."

"So?"

"Marco's old men were still alive."

Luca laughed bitterly.

"Everyone was still protecting everyone."

Arthur nodded.

"Yes."

Luca asked:

"Where is Anthony now?"

Vanessa started crying again.

Arthur looked at the door.

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Then said:

"Outside."