Chapter 3 - The Bottle With No Label

Belini denied everything for eleven minutes.

Then Emma found the bottle.

Not in Belini’s room.

In Luca’s.

Inside the locked drawer beside his bed.

No pharmacy label.

No prescribing doctor.

No dosage instructions.

Only white tablets.

Serrano compared them.

Same drug.

Higher dose.

Marco looked at Belini.

“Who supplied these?”

She folded her arms.

“I don’t know.”

Luca smiled faintly.

“No.”

Belini stared.

“That answer used to work.”

He turned to Marco.

“Bellori.”

Marco was already searching.

Matteo Bellori had left his apartment thirty minutes earlier.

Phone off.

Car abandoned.

Luca looked toward the window.

“He knew.”

Emma asked:

“Knew what?”

“That we found the archive.”

Serrano frowned.

“How?”

Nobody answered.

Then Emma remembered something.

“Belini’s phone.”

Belini looked at her.

“What about it?”

“You checked it twice while the video played.”

Luca turned.

Belini immediately reached toward her purse.

Marco moved first.

He took the phone.

A secure messaging app was open.

One conversation.

No names.

Only initials.

M.B.

The last message had been sent six minutes earlier.

HE KNOWS HIS HAND IS BACK.

Luca read it.

Then looked at Belini.

“Who did you warn?”

She said nothing.

Marco scrolled upward.

Messages.

Dates.

Medication changes.

Visitor restrictions.

Meeting cancellations.

One line stopped everyone.

THE PETITION MUST BE FILED BEFORE HE CAN SIGN AGAIN.

Emma frowned.

“Sign what?”

Luca answered.

“Anything requiring physical witness confirmation.”

Belini’s eyes lowered.

Marco continued.

Another message.

IF HE REGAINS CONTROL OF HIS RIGHT HAND, THE MEDICAL ARGUMENT COLLAPSES.

Luca leaned back.

There it was.

Not care.

Not fear.

Timing.

His recovery was a legal problem.

Emma looked at Belini.

“You weren’t trying to make him comfortable.”

Belini’s voice sharpened.

“You don’t understand what his life is.”

Emma did not move.

“No.”

She looked at Luca.

“But I understand when someone is being prevented from making choices.”

Silence.

Serrano checked the bottle again.

“These doses could explain the fatigue. The tremor. Some of the delayed coordination.”

Luca’s gaze returned to Belini.

“You watched me struggle.”

Her face tightened.

“I was trying to keep you safe.”

Luca’s expression disappeared.

“From what?”

Before she answered, Marco’s phone rang.

He listened.

Then looked up.

“We found Bellori.”

“Where?”

“Moretti Maritime.”

Luca’s eyes narrowed.

“At this hour?”

Marco nodded.

“He’s in your father’s old records room.”

Belini whispered:

“Oh, God.”

Luca heard.

“What is in that room?”

She looked at him.

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For the first time, she answered immediately.

“The original trust.”