Chapter 4: The Empty Cabinet
Luca climbed into the car and closed the door.
“Your mother never told me she was leaving.”
“That isn’t what Vanessa said.”
“I know.”
Emily turned toward the window.
Luca reached for her, but his hand stopped between them.
“Emily, look at me.”
“Did Mom want a divorce?”
“I found unsigned papers after she d!ed.
I asked her lawyer about them, but he said she never filed.”
“You never told me.”
“You had just lost your mother.”
“And you decided I should lose the truth too?”
Luca lowered his hand.
“Yes.
I made that decision for you, and I was wrong.”
Emily’s eyes filled, but she didn’t look away.
“If Mom’s letters say you hurt her—”
“Then you will read every word.”
Vanessa sat in the car behind us with Reid.
At Maple Street, the side door stood open and every basement light was on.
A security guard met us in the kitchen.
“The intruder escaped through the cellar window.”
Vanessa stepped inside.
“Then you have no proof Dominic was here.”
The guard held up a plastic access card.
“He dropped this.”
Vanessa barely glanced at it.
“Cards can be copied.”
We followed Luca downstairs.
A section of wood paneling hung open, revealing the steel cabinet behind it.
Emily gripped the railing.
“Mom painted flowers on that door.”
The painted flowers were scraped nearly white.
Luca opened the cabinet with Vanessa’s key.
The shelves were empty.
Vanessa released a slow breath.
“Now you see why this is absurd.”
Emily bent toward the bottom shelf.
“There were boxes here.”
“Do you have photographs?” Vanessa asked.
“No.”
“An inventory?”
“No.”
“Then perhaps your mother emptied it years ago.”
Luca turned.
“You admitted there were letters.”
“I repeated what Elena claimed to have stored here.
I never said I saw them.”
Reid entered holding his phone.
“Police are outside.”
Vanessa smiled.
“Good.”
Two officers came downstairs.
Vanessa spoke before Luca could.
“This is a family dispute.
Mr.
Moretti ended our engagement and is now accusing my brother of entering a house I was authorized to manage.”
Emily faced her.
“I never authorized you.”
Vanessa opened her purse and removed a folded document.
“Your signature says otherwise.”
Emily read the first page.
Her face drained of color.
“That looks like my signature, but I’ve never seen this.”
“It grants my company access to prepare the property for sale,” Vanessa said.
“I didn’t sign it.”
One officer examined the page.
“We’ll need handwriting analysis.
Until then, this may be a civil matter.”
Vanessa looked at Luca.
“You brought everyone here for an empty cabinet and a misunderstanding.”
I crouched beside the cabinet.
Dust covered the floor except for two clean rectangles where boxes had rested.
“Officer, look at this.”
Vanessa’s heel came down over one clean mark.
“Dust proves nothing.”
Emily suddenly pressed both hands against her stomach.
“Emily?” Luca caught her shoulders.
“The baby moved hard.
I need to sit down.”
I guided her to the basement steps.
Vanessa bent close to me while everyone watched Emily.
“Walk away tonight,” she whispered.
“I’ll clear your mother’s tax balance.”
I stared at her.
“You know the exact balance?”
Her eyes shifted.
“Public records.”
“No.
The latest payment isn’t public yet.”
Vanessa straightened.
“Be careful, Claire.”
A car stopped outside.
Moments later, a man hurried into the basement carrying Emily’s overnight bag.
“Michael,” Emily breathed.
He knelt beside her.
“Are you all right?”
“I think so.”
Michael pressed his forehead to hers, then looked at Luca.
“Your guard called me.
I brought something else.”
He held up a small black device.
“What is that?” Luca asked.
“A backup drive from Emily’s doorbell camera.”
Vanessa’s hand tightened around her purse.
Michael connected it to his laptop.
A grainy image appeared: Dominic entering the house that afternoon, carrying two empty document boxes.
Then a second figure appeared behind him.
It was Vanessa.
Emily looked up slowly.
“You were here today.”
Vanessa’s face remained calm.
“A blurry video proves I visited a property.”
Michael clicked another file.
From the speakers came Vanessa’s voice:
“Take Elena’s ledger first.
If Luca reads the last page, the wedding is over.”
Luca stepped closer to the screen.
“What is on the last page?”
Vanessa reached for the laptop.
Reid blocked her, but she smiled at Emily.
May you like
“Ask your father,” she said.
“His signature is on it.”
