Chapter 5 - The Silver Pocket Watch
I stared at the crayon drawing in my trembling hands.
A woman in a red coat cutting the brake lines of Caroline’s car.
Sophie had drawn this. Sophie was only eight when the crash happened. The police had ruled it a tragic accident—a blown tire followed by total brake failure on a steep, rainy hill. Nobody suspected foul play.
But Sophie had been sitting in the backseat of a different car that day, waiting for her mother to pull out of the garage. Sophie saw everything.
And Vanessa had stolen this drawing from the kitchen today. She was hiding it in her coat pocket.
Because Vanessa was the woman in the red coat.
A cold sweat broke out on the back of my neck. I had to show this to Luca. I turned around to run back to the balcony.
"Looking for something, Claire?"
I gasped. Vanessa was standing at the end of the hallway.
She had slipped away from the standoff downstairs while her father was yelling. She stepped toward me, her eyes dead and cold. All the panic and crying from a moment ago had vanished. She looked like a predator.
I tried to hide the drawing behind my back, but she had already seen it.
"Give it to me," she demanded, holding out her hand.
"You killed her," I whispered, my voice shaking. "You sabotaged Mrs. Moretti's car."
Vanessa laughed. A dry, humorless sound. "And who is going to believe you? A housemaid? My father has a dozen gunmen downstairs. If Luca breaks this engagement, my family goes to war with his. Luca won't risk thousands of lives over a child's crayon drawing."
"He will when he knows you murdered his wife!" I took a step back.
Vanessa’s smile dropped. She took a step closer, crowding me against the closet door.
"You listen to me very carefully," she hissed, her voice dropping to a vicious whisper. "I know all about your mother, Claire. I know she lives at 442 Elm Street. I know she needs a nurse to help her out of bed every morning. I know her front door lock is broken."
My blood turned to ice. "Don't you dare touch her."
"My father's men are sitting in a black sedan across the street from her house right now," Vanessa said, her eyes gleaming with malice. "If you show that drawing to Luca, I make one phone call. Your mother will have another 'fall.' A fatal one this time."
A sickening wave of nausea hit me. She was a monster.
"What do you want?" I choked out, tears stinging my eyes.
"I want you out of this house," Vanessa said. "Tonight. You pack your bags, you walk down those stairs, and you leave. You don't say a word to Luca. You disappear."
"He won't just let me leave," I said. "He knows I need the money."
Vanessa smirked. She reached into her torn gown and pulled out a heavy, intricately engraved silver pocket watch. It swung from a silver chain.
I recognized it immediately. It was the Moretti family heirloom. Luca’s grandfather’s watch. It had been missing for three years. Luca had turned the mansion upside down looking for it.
Vanessa shoved the watch deep into the pocket of my uniform apron.
"You're going to walk downstairs right now," Vanessa commanded. "You're going to try to sneak out the front door. My father's men will stop you. They will search you. They will find the stolen watch. Luca will think you're a thief, and he will fire you himself."
"No," I pleaded, tears finally spilling over. "Please. I'll just leave. You don't have to frame me."
"I have to ruin you, Claire," Vanessa smiled. "Otherwise, Luca might come looking for you. Now move. Or your mother dies."
I had no choice.
With a shattered heart, I shoved the crayon drawing deep into my bra, hiding it against my skin. I walked past Vanessa, my legs feeling like lead, and headed down the back staircase to the servant's quarters. I grabbed my cheap canvas duffel bag and threw my few clothes inside.
Every instinct screamed at me to tell Luca. But I pictured my helpless mother, unable to walk, facing mafia hitmen alone. I couldn't risk her life.
I walked out to the main foyer. The standoff was still happening. Luca and Don Bellini were arguing fiercely.
I kept my head down, clutching my bag, trying to slip toward the heavy mahogany front doors.
"Hold it right there!"
One of Bellini’s guards grabbed my arm, yanking me backward so hard my duffel bag fell to the marble floor.
Luca turned around, frowning. "Claire? What are you doing?"
Vanessa appeared at the top of the stairs, pointing a dramatic, trembling finger at me.
"Don't let her leave, Luca!" Vanessa cried out. "She's trying to run! I saw her sneaking out of your study! She’s a thief!"
The entire room fell silent.
Luca looked at me, confusion flashing across his face. "Claire? What is she talking about?"
I couldn't speak. My throat was tight with tears. I looked at the floor.
"Search her!" Vanessa demanded.
One of Bellini’s men roughly patted down my apron. He reached into the pocket and pulled out the heavy silver pocket watch. He held it up by the chain, the silver catching the chandelier's light.
A collective gasp echoed in the room.
Luca stared at the watch. The watch that had been missing since the day Caroline died.
Vanessa walked down the stairs, looking triumphant. "She's a criminal, Luca. She manipulated Sophie, she forged that journal to frame me, and she’s been stealing from you all along. Send her to the police."
Luca didn't look at Vanessa. He slowly walked over to the guard and took the silver watch.
He held it in his palm, his thumb tracing the engraving. Then he looked up at me. His eyes weren't angry. They were searching.
"Claire," Luca said quietly. "Did you steal this?"
I squeezed my eyes shut, tears leaking out. "Yes, sir."
Vanessa smirked. "You see? A lying little rat."
Luca opened the cover of the pocket watch. He stared at the face of the clock for a long time.
Then he looked up at Vanessa.
"Vanessa," Luca asked, his voice deathly calm. "What time is this watch stopped at?"
Vanessa crossed her arms, rolling her eyes. "Oh, please. It’s stopped at three-fifteen. You told me it broke when you dropped it years ago."
Luca’s expression didn't change. But the air in the room suddenly turned freezing cold.
"I didn't drop it," Luca said softly. "I wound this watch this morning. It’s perfectly functional."
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Vanessa’s smirk vanished.
"It's ticking right now," Luca continued, holding the watch up so the faint tick-tick-tick echoed in the quiet room. "So tell me, Vanessa. How did you know this watch was stopped at exactly 3:15 when it went missing three years ago?"
