Chapter 5 - the secret in the lining
By 2:00 PM, the estate had settled into an intense, quiet preparation.
In the second-floor master suite, Hannah sat on the edge of the plush bed, helping Sophia draw pictures with colored pencils. The little girl was laughing happily, her cheeks flushed with a healthy, rosy color she hadn't possessed in years.
Clare stepped into the room, holding a small wooden box she had retrieved from the estate's private medical lab.
"Hannah," Clare said gently. "I ran a full chemical test on the old coat you wore the night of the river crash... the one you left in the emergency room storage."
Hannah looked up, her brows furrowing. "My old winter coat?"
Clare opened the wooden box, pulling out a small, metallic object sealed inside a clear plastic bag—a crushed black GPS tracking device no larger than a coin.
"This was tucked inside the lining of Sophia's pale-pink dress three years ago," Clare revealed. "It wasn't placed there after the crash, Hannah. It was planted inside her dress before she ever left the house that night."
Luca stepped into the master suite, having heard Clare's words from the doorway. His sharp face hardened into stone as he took the plastic bag from Clare's hand, inspecting the serial number stamped on the micro-chip.
"This tracker belongs to a military-grade security firm in London," Luca said, his voice dropping into a dangerous, hollow register. "The same firm my uncle Dominic used for his private offshore accounts."
Hannah stood up, walking over to Luca, her soft brown eyes filled with deep, protective devotion. "Luca... he was tracking your car that night. He knew exactly where the bridge was."
"He wanted me dead so he could take full control of the Chicago territory," Luca said, his broad hand coming down gently over Hannah's fingers. "And when Sophia survived, he used the fake paralysis medication to keep her helpless so I would spend all my time focused on her care instead of auditing his books."
Seven-year-old Sophia looked up from her drawing pad, her bright brown eyes clear and strong. "Daddy... am I going to walk again?"
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Luca walked over to his daughter, kneeling gracefully in front of her wheelchair. He took her small, fair hands in his broad palms, looking into her eyes with fierce, unshakeable fatherly love.
"You are going to walk, my sweet girl," Luca promised softly, kissing her forehead. "And no one in this world will ever hold you back again."
