Chapter 3 - THE BOY ON THE PHONE
Victor stepped into the hallway and closed the nursery door.
“Where are you?”
Luca hesitated.
“I don’t know if I should tell you.”
Victor understood.
“What did Adriana say about me?”
Silence.
Then:
“That you knew.”
Victor felt his jaw tighten.
“Knew what?”
“That my mom was pregnant.”
“I didn’t.”
“She said you paid her to leave.”
“I didn’t.”
Another pause.
“She said you found out about me three years ago.”
Victor’s hand tightened around the phone.
“I found out about you three minutes ago.”
The boy breathed out sharply.
Victor could hear disbelief fighting hope.
“How old are you?”
“Seventeen.”
“Birthday?”
“October ninth.”
Victor closed his eyes.
Elena disappeared in January.
The timing fit.
“Where is your mother?”
A longer silence.
“She died.”
Victor’s chest tightened.
“When?”
“Two years ago.”
“How?”
“Cancer.”
The hallway seemed suddenly too quiet.
He had imagined finding Elena one day.
Angry.
Older.
Alive.
That possibility was gone.
“I’m sorry.”
Luca answered:
“So am I.”
Victor respected that.
No sentimental performance.
Just truth.
“How did Adriana find you?”
“She came to my school.”
“When?”
“Five months ago.”
Before Lily was born.
“What did she want?”
“She said she knew who my father was.”
“What school?”
Luca did not answer.
Victor heard movement.
“Luca?”
“I have to go.”
“Wait.”
“She said if I ever called you without her, she’d stop paying.”
Victor frowned.
“Paying for what?”
“My school.”
Victor’s stomach turned.
Adriana had created dependency.
“What school?”
“St. Matthew Academy.”
Victor knew it.
Private boarding school near Connecticut.
Expensive.
“How long has she paid?”
“Since Mom died.”
Victor immediately understood something worse.
“She knew your mother.”
Luca went silent.
“Did she?”
“Yes.”
“How?”
“I don’t know.”
“Luca.”
“My mom didn’t like her.”
That mattered.
“What did your mother say?”
“She said if Adriana ever came back, I should leave.”
Victor’s pulse changed.
“Leave where?”
“She gave me an address.”
“What address?”
Luca lowered his voice.
“A lawyer.”
“Name.”
“Evelyn Chase.”
Victor had never heard it.
“Luca, listen carefully.”
The boy did.
“Do not go anywhere with Adriana.”
“She’s not here.”
“Who is?”
“School staff.”
“Stay around people.”
“Why?”
Victor looked toward the nursery.
Because a woman willing to push a baby carriage toward stairs was not someone he wanted near a seventeen-year-old she viewed as leverage.
“Because I don’t trust her.”
Luca laughed bitterly.
“That makes two of us.”
Then the call ended.
Victor immediately called Anthony.
“St. Matthew Academy. Connecticut.”
Anthony was already moving.
“I’ll contact them.”
“No.”
Victor stopped him.
“Find someone local first. Quietly.”
He did not want Adriana hearing that Luca had called.
Then Victor searched Evelyn Chase.
Estate attorney.
Boston.
Sixty-two.
Specialized in private trusts and guardianship.
No obvious Santoro connection.
He called.
A receptionist answered.
Victor gave his name.
Silence.
Then:
“Ms. Chase has been expecting this call for seventeen years.”
Victor sat down.
Evelyn came on.
“Mr. Santoro.”
“You know Luca.”
“Yes.”
“You knew Elena.”
“Yes.”
“Was he mine?”
A pause.
“I will not answer paternity from memory.”
Victor respected that too.
“What can you answer?”
“Elena believed you were his father.”
“Why didn’t she contact me?”
“She tried.”
“My father.”
“Yes.”
Victor closed his eyes.
Evelyn continued.
“Angelo Santoro offered her money.”
“To disappear.”
“Yes.”
“Did she take it?”
“Some.”
Victor’s anger returned.
Evelyn added:
“Because she was twenty-three, pregnant, frightened, and your father had already arranged for her landlord to evict her.”
Victor said nothing.
“She used the money to leave Illinois.”
“Why keep Luca from me after Angelo died?”
“She considered coming back.”
“When?”
“Many times.”
“Then why didn’t she?”
“Because she believed your life was still dangerous.”
Victor could not argue.
“What does Adriana have to do with this?”
Evelyn’s voice changed.
“That is the question I hoped you would ask.”
Victor waited.
“Three years ago, Adriana contacted Elena.”
“Why?”
“She claimed to be researching Santoro family property for you.”
“She lied.”
“Yes.”
“What did Elena tell her?”
“Too much.”
Victor stood.
“What does that mean?”
“Enough for Adriana to learn Luca existed.”
Victor’s jaw tightened.
“Then Elena died.”
“Yes.”
“Adriana started paying his school.”
“Through a foundation.”
“Why?”
Evelyn hesitated.
“I believe she wanted his trust.”
Victor frowned.
“What trust?”
“Elena created one.”
“With what money?”
“Not hers.”
Victor stopped.
“Whose?”
Evelyn said:
“Your father’s.”
The answer made no sense.
Until it did.
Angelo had not merely paid Elena to disappear.
He had hidden something with her.
Evelyn continued.
“There is one more thing.”
Victor waited.
“Elena left Luca a sealed letter.”
“For me?”
“No.”
“For Luca.”
“When can he open it?”
“On his eighteenth birthday.”
Victor looked at the date.
Five months away.
“Can he open it early?”
“Only if his biological father is legally confirmed and signs with him.”
Victor understood immediately why Adriana needed him.
The wedding.
The succession agreement.
The hidden son.
May you like
The sealed trust.
Nothing was separate.
