280.🖤 THE SILVER MEMORY

Chapter 08 - The Deal in the Greenhouse

Vanessa asked to meet Claire alone. The message came through a number Claire did not recognize, followed by a photograph of a narrow greenhouse behind a hotel on the north side of Chicago. The caption read: I can give you the rest of the recording. If Luca comes, I will leave.

Claire showed the message to Luca.

“You don't have to go,” he said.

“I know.”

“Vanessa has already helped frame you.”

“I know that too.”

He waited for her to explain, but she seemed to be making the decision for herself. At last, she said, “I want to know whether she has the full recording. And I want to hear what she thinks she can trade for it.”

Luca's jaw tightened. “I'll have Marco nearby.”

“Nearby, not inside.”

He nodded. “I'll respect that.”

“You came,” Vanessa said.

“You asked.”

Vanessa glanced toward the door. “I thought you'd bring Luca.”

“He isn't here.”

“Good.” She reached into her coat and placed a small drive on the bench. “This contains the full footage from the pantry camera. Adrian copied it before the system was wiped. It shows Isabella giving him the instructions.”

“Why are you giving it to me?”

“Because I need something.”

Claire did not touch the drive. “What?”

“Protection for my brother.”

“Your brother helped plan this.”

“He did. And he knows it. But Isabella has been threatening him since he tried to leave. She has enough evidence to send him to prison for the rest of his life. She also has enough evidence to make him disappear before he ever reaches a courtroom.”

Claire looked at Vanessa carefully. “You helped them drug Luca.”

Vanessa's mouth tightened. “It wasn't poison. It was a sedative. The plan was to make him confused at the board meeting so the trustees would approve a temporary transfer of authority. Isabella wanted control of the company. Adrian wanted money. I wanted the marriage and the security that came with it.”

“And you were willing to let me take the blame.”

“Yes.” Vanessa looked down. “I told myself you'd be dismissed, not arrested. I told myself a maid could find another job. I told myself a great many things that made it easier to sleep.”

“Did you hurt my wrist?”

“No. Isabella did. She caught you with the card and told me you had become a problem. I paid the cleaner to wipe the cameras because I thought if the footage disappeared, the whole thing would end. I didn't know you had a copy.”

“Why should I believe you now?”

“You shouldn't. Not until you see the recording.”

Vanessa pushed the drive toward her. Claire picked it up, then heard a click behind her. The greenhouse door had locked.

Vanessa went pale.

“What did you do?” Claire asked.

“Nothing. I swear.”

A side door opened. Isabella entered wearing a camel coat and the black onyx ring. Two men followed her, both in dark suits. She looked at Vanessa with disappointment, as if a child had failed a simple instruction.

“I told you to bring me the drive,” Isabella said.

“You said you'd leave Adrian alone,” Vanessa replied.

“I said I would consider it.”

“You promised.”

Isabella's expression sharpened. “Promises are for people who have the luxury of keeping them.”

“Let her go,” Vanessa said.

Isabella laughed softly. “Now you have a conscience?”

“No. I have a memory.”

For the first time, Isabella looked truly angry. “You have a brother who has spent years stealing from me. You have a fiancé who will never marry you now. You have no position in this family except the one I gave you. Do not confuse desperation with courage.”

Vanessa flinched, but did not step aside.

Claire held the drive tightly. “What happened to my mother?”

Isabella turned to her as if she had forgotten Claire was in the room. “Your mother was a sentimental woman who thought kindness could protect her from powerful people. She stole confidential papers and encouraged Sofia to challenge her husband. The family offered her a way out. She chose to make herself a victim.”

“She was trying to save Sofia.”

“She was trying to save herself.”

“Then why did you keep her alive under another name?”

For the first time, Isabella's face changed. The answer came too quickly to hide the truth.

“Because a missing woman is more useful than a dead one. As long as Eleanor stayed frightened, she could never contradict the story.”

Vanessa stared at Isabella. “You told me Eleanor was dead.”

“I told you what you needed to know.”

“You used me.”

“I gave you a future. You chose to be greedy.”

Isabella reached for the drive. Claire stepped back. One of the men moved, and Vanessa grabbed his sleeve. The movement was small and clumsy, but it bought Claire a second. She slipped the drive into the pocket of her cardigan and ran toward a side door that led into the hotel's service corridor.

A hand caught her coat. She twisted free, leaving a button in the man's fingers, and stumbled into the corridor. Behind her, Vanessa shouted something she could not make out. The door slammed.

Claire ran until she reached the lobby, where a receptionist looked up in alarm. She asked to use the phone. The receptionist hesitated, then saw the bruising on her wrist and dialed the number Claire gave her.

Luca answered on the first ring.

“I'm at the hotel,” Claire said, fighting for breath. “Isabella has the greenhouse locked. Vanessa gave me the full recording. I have it.”

“Are you hurt?”

“No. Not now. But she knows I have it.”

“Stay in the lobby. Don't leave with anyone except Marco.”

Claire heard a noise behind her and turned. Vanessa had emerged from a side corridor, her hair coming loose, one hand pressed against her cheek. She stopped several feet away.

“I didn't know she'd lock the door,” Vanessa said.

Claire looked at her. “You knew enough to come.”

Vanessa swallowed. “I know.”

Marco arrived in less than five minutes. He escorted Claire to the car and took the drive directly to an independent technician. Luca met them at a secure office, where he watched the recording in silence. The video showed Isabella entering the pantry, giving Adrian the instructions, and placing a small vial inside a service cart. Vanessa stood beside her, listening. When Isabella said the maid would take the blame, Vanessa looked away—but she did not object.

The recording continued. After Isabella left, Adrian turned toward the camera and spoke to someone outside the frame.

“Once Luca signs, we can tell him what really happened to Sofia.”

A second voice answered. It was not Isabella's. It was not Vanessa's.

It was Luca's father, Daniel Moretti, who had supposedly been too ill to leave his bed that night.

Luca stared at the screen, unable to move.

Claire whispered, “Your father was part of it?”

The video froze on Daniel's face.