Chapter 7 - The Woman Who Was Taken Again
There was no broken lock.
No blood.
No struggle.
Just a message on the mirror.
You saved her once.
Let's see if you can do it again.
Luca stood motionless in Elena's room.
His face was empty.
I knew that expression.
It was the look of a man who was one second away from becoming the person he had spent his entire life trying not to be.
“Luca.”
He didn't answer.
“Luca.”
He finally looked at me.
“I'll find her.”
“I know.”
“And whoever took her is going to regret it.”
“That's what they want.”
He stopped.
I pointed to the message.
“They want you angry.”
He closed his eyes.
“Right.”
“Think.”
He looked at the room.
“Nothing is missing.”
“Exactly.”
“The person who took her wanted us to notice.”
“So it's staged.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“To make me chase.”
“And while you're chasing?”
“They move the evidence.”
Luca looked at me.
“You're getting good at this.”
“I've had a terrible education.”
He almost smiled.
We checked every camera.
At 2:14 a.m., Elena entered the hallway.
At 2:16, the cameras went dark.
At 2:19, they returned.
No one appeared.
Then I noticed something.
A housekeeper's cart moved past the camera at 2:17.
“That's not a normal cart.”
Luca zoomed in.
Inside was a box.
The same kind used to transport paintings.
We traced the vehicle that collected it.
A charity foundation.
The Bellini Children's Foundation.
Isabella's old organization.
Luca looked at me.
“That's where she hid the children.”
“What children?”
“The ones my mother tried to save.”
We went there.
Behind the foundation was an old basement.
Inside were files.
Birth certificates.
Adoption records.
False names.
Dozens.
Maybe hundreds.
People who had been moved through the city using fake identities.
Elena had been trying to destroy it for decades.
Luca found a photograph.
A little girl.
His mother.
The caption read:
Future asset.
He closed his eyes.
Then we heard a scream.
Elena.
We found her in a back room.
She was tied to a chair.
But the person guarding her wasn't Isabella.
It was Vanessa.
She looked terrified.
“Don't come closer.”
Luca stopped.
“Why?”
“She has people outside.”
“Who?”
“Three men.”
“Where?”
“Every exit.”
Luca lowered his weapon.
“Why did you take my mother?”
“I didn't.”
“Then who did?”
“Isabella.”
“Where is she?”
“Gone.”
“What does she want?”
Vanessa started crying.
“She wants me to kill you.”
Silence.
“I won't.”
Luca stepped closer.
“Why should I believe you?”
“Because I already had the chance.”
She nodded toward Elena.
“I was supposed to hand her over.”
“But you didn't.”
“No.”
“Why?”
Vanessa looked at him.
“Because I finally remembered something.”
“What?”
“When we were children.”
She swallowed.
“I remember you.”
Luca stared.
“You used to protect me.”
“From whom?”
“From my mother.”
“Why?”
“Because she would lock me in the basement whenever I disobeyed.”
Vanessa wiped her eyes.
“You once crawled through a window to bring me food.”
Luca looked stunned.
“I don't remember.”
“I do.”
She smiled sadly.
“You were always kind.”
He stepped closer.
“Why did you become like her?”
“Because I thought surviving meant becoming cruel.”
“And now?”
“I don't want to survive like that.”
Luca nodded.
“Then help me.”
Vanessa looked surprised.
“With what?”
“Ending it.”
She pointed toward the corridor.
“Your mother is outside.”
“What?”
“Elena is not the hostage.”
She looked at me.
“She is the bait.”
I understood.
“Isabella wants Luca to come.”
“Yes.”
“To kill him.”
“Yes.”
“And if he does?”
“She gets the trust.”
Luca thought for a second.
“Then we give her exactly what she wants.”
“You're going to let her think you're angry.”
“Yes.”
“But you're not.”
“No.”
We planned everything.
A fake ledger.
A fake trust certificate.
A controlled meeting.
The location was an old ferry terminal.
Isabella arrived first.
She held a gun.
Elena sat nearby.
Luca walked forward alone.
I watched from inside a parked vehicle.
Isabella smiled.
“My son.”
“I'm not your son.”
“You could be.”
“No.”
“You inherited everything.”
“I inherited pain.”
She laughed.
“That is power.”
“No.”
He stepped closer.
“Power is having the ability to destroy someone and choosing not to.”
She stared.
“You sound like your mother.”
“I am my mother's son.”
She raised the weapon.
“Then die like one.”
She fired.
The bullet struck the metal railing.
Because Luca had moved.
Police vehicles arrived.
Not corrupt local officers.
Federal investigators.
Elena was freed.
Isabella was arrested.
But she still smiled.
“You think you've won.”
Luca looked at her.
“I don't need to win.”
“What?”
“I only need the truth.”
The investigators recovered the real ledger.
The criminal network was finally exposed.
The Bellini empire ended.
The trust became the subject of a legal restructuring.
And Luca had one decision left.
He could inherit everything.
Or walk away.
He looked at me.
“What would you do?”
“I'd choose the life I'd want if there were no money.”
He smiled.
“And you?”
“Coffee. A small apartment. Maybe a garden.”
He laughed.
“That's not exactly what I expected.”
“What did you expect?”
“A mansion.”
“I work in one. They are overrated.”
He laughed again.
Then grew serious.
“I think I'd choose that too.”
“What?”
“A smaller life.”
“You're Luca Moretti.”
“No.”
He looked toward the harbor.
“I'm Anthony.”
I smiled.
“Maybe you're both.”
He took my hand.
“Maybe.”
The trust hearing was two days later.
Luca entered the courtroom with no lawyers representing his criminal interests.
He personally petitioned to restructure the trust into lawful businesses and charitable foundations.
The judge approved.
The Bellini organization was dismantled.
The Morreti assets were placed under independent management.
And Luca walked away from the criminal side of his inheritance.
May you like
But the hardest part was still ahead.
He had to decide what to do with Vanessa.
