Vanessa Was Not the Only One Lying
Chapter 04 - Vanessa Was Not the Only One Lying
Adrian Moretti arrived at the mansion at noon.
Luca did not tell him about the blue envelope.
He told him there was a question about the prenuptial agreement.
Adrian came quickly.
Too quickly, Olivia thought.
She was serving coffee in the study because Mrs. Carter had developed a migraine and because Luca had asked rather than ordered.
That mattered now.
Adrian was forty-two, lean, clean-shaven, with the polished patience of a man who billed by the hour even when he was family.
He kissed Vanessa’s cheek in the hall.
Then entered Luca’s study.
“Problem?”
“Maybe.”
Luca sat behind the desk.
Olivia placed coffee near him.
Adrian barely looked at her.
“Olivia,” Luca said.
“Yes?”
“Stay.”
Adrian looked up.
There.
Small.
But real.
“Why?”
Luca leaned back.
“Does that bother you?”
“No.”
The answer came too fast.
Olivia remained near the sideboard.
Luca placed the prenup on the desk.
“Explain section twelve.”
Adrian frowned.
“You approved it.”
“Explain.”
“Spousal proxy rights in the event of incapacity.”
Olivia’s skin tightened.
Vanessa would receive temporary voting authority over some Luca-owned trusts if he became medically incapacitated.
“Standard?” Luca asked.
“For the family structure.”
“Was it in my first marriage?”
“No.”
“Why now?”
“Your holdings changed.”
Luca looked at him.
“Whose idea?”
Adrian hesitated.
“Carlo suggested it.”
There.
Luca’s expression did not move.
“Why?”
“Continuity.”
“Vanessa has never run a shipping company.”
“She wouldn’t run it. She would hold proxy until the board appoints management.”
Luca looked at the document.
“Convenient.”
Adrian smiled faintly.
“You’re nervous before the wedding.”
“Am I?”
“Yes.”
“Then explain this.”
He slid one photocopied ledger page across the desk.
Not the whole file.
One old transfer.
Bellini Foundation.
Consulting company.
Adrian Moretti signature.
His face changed.
Not dramatically.
Enough.
“Where did you get this?”
“Answer first.”
Adrian stared at the page.
Then at Olivia.
“Why is the maid here?”
Olivia felt the word.
Not Olivia.
The maid.
Luca heard it too.
“Her name is Olivia.”
Adrian’s eyes returned to him.
“This is family business.”
“No.”
Luca’s voice went quiet.
“This page is about money stolen from sick children and a woman named Diane Hayes.”
Adrian looked at Olivia.
Recognition arrived.
He knew.
Olivia’s stomach tightened.
“You knew my mother.”
Adrian stood.
“Luca, we should speak privately.”
“No.”
“Do not do this.”
“Sit.”
For the first time, Adrian looked angry.
Then he sat.
“Did you sign the transfer?” Luca asked.
“Yes.”
Olivia inhaled.
“Why?”
Adrian looked at her.
“Because I was twenty-five and Carlo told me it was a standard foundation reclassification.”
“Did you read it?”
“No.”
Luca’s face hardened.
“Your signature moved six hundred thousand dollars.”
“I know that now.”
“When did you learn?”
“Three years later.”
“And?”
Adrian looked down.
“I confronted Carlo.”
“What did he say?”
“That Antonio knew.”
Luca became still.
“My father.”
“Yes.”
“Did you ask him?”
“No.”
“Why?”
“Because by then he was using Bellini cash to keep two construction projects alive.”
There it was.
Complicity by convenience.
Olivia had expected Adrian to be a mastermind.
Instead he looked like something more ordinary and perhaps more dangerous.
A man who had signed first and asked questions after the money became useful.
“Did you tell Sofia?” Luca asked.
“No.”
“She found out anyway.”
“Yes.”
“Did you block Diane’s trust?”
Adrian’s eyes moved to Olivia.
“No.”
“Carlo and my father did.”
“Yes.”
“What did you do?”
“Nothing.”
Olivia laughed softly.
Every wealthy man’s favorite crime.
Adrian looked at her.
“I’m sorry.”
She held his gaze.
“Do not apologize until you know whether you’re sorry she suffered or sorry I’m standing here.”
Adrian flinched.
Good.
Luca’s eyes moved toward Olivia.
Something changed there.
Not attraction exactly.
Respect sharpened by discomfort.
Adrian looked back at Luca.
“Vanessa does not know all of this.”
“You sure?”
“Yes.”
“She hired a private investigator to locate the envelope.”
His face went pale.
“What?”
Luca watched him.
“Interesting.”
“I didn’t know.”
“Then why did she ask you about the prenup proxy?”
Adrian stood.
“She asked me what happens if you become incapacitated. I thought it was estate planning.”
Olivia felt cold.
Vanessa had asked how much control she would receive if Luca could not act.
Not if he died.
If he was alive and unable to act.
Luca’s expression became flat.
“When?”
“Six weeks ago.”
“Before or after the engagement?”
“Before.”
Silence.
Adrian continued.
“She said her father wanted clarity.”
“Of course.”
Luca looked toward Daniel.
“Where is Vanessa?”
Daniel checked.
“Bridal lunch at the Drake.”
“Bring her home.”
Adrian stood again.
“No.”
Luca looked at him.
“What?”
“If Vanessa is involved with Carlo, confronting her now tells them we found something.”
Olivia watched the two men.
Adrian was right.
That did not make him trustworthy.
Luca knew it too.
“What do you suggest?”
“Let the wedding move forward.”
Olivia turned.
Adrian continued.
“Make them believe the plan is intact.”
“You want me to marry her.”
“No. Delay the legal filing until the ceremony.”
“That is not how weddings work.”
“Then create a reason.”
Luca stared.
Olivia looked at the prenup.
“Or change the proxy clause.”
Both men looked at her.
She almost wished she had stayed quiet.
Almost.
“If Vanessa is watching the legal structure, change something small enough that she thinks you’re suspicious but not enough to know why.”
Adrian’s eyebrows lifted.
“What?”
Olivia pointed.
“Require dual proxy. Vanessa plus an independent trustee.”
Luca studied her.
“Who?”
Claire.
Olivia did not say it.
He did.
“Claire Bennett.”
Adrian stared.
“Your ex-wife.”
“Exactly.”
“If Vanessa objects, we learn something.”
Olivia nodded.
Adrian looked between them.
“You two planned this?”
“No,” Luca said.
His eyes remained on Olivia.
“She thinks.”
The compliment unsettled her more than praise should.
Daniel’s phone buzzed.
He read the message.
“Boss.”
“What?”
“Mercer is missing.”
Luca’s face changed.
“From where?”
“Hotel room empty. Blood on the bathroom floor.”
Olivia’s stomach dropped.
Adrian swore softly.
Daniel continued.
“His laptop is gone.”
“Vanessa?”
“No idea.”
Then another message arrived.
Daniel looked at Olivia.
“What?”
He turned the phone.
A photograph had been sent from Mercer’s number.
Olivia leaving her apartment that morning.
Taken from across the street.
Beneath it:
THE MAID SHOULD HAVE KEPT HER MOUTH SHUT.
Luca stood so quickly the chair struck the desk.
Olivia looked at the photograph.
Her fear came clean and cold.
May you like
Vanessa’s secret was no longer about preserving an engagement.
Someone had decided Olivia herself was evidence.
