Chapter 4 - THE WOMAN LUCA NEVER MENTIONED
The police moved me to a secure floor that evening.
I had never imagined that a hospital could feel like a fortress.
There were guards near the elevators.
Visitors were screened.
My mother's name was added to a list.
Even my phone calls were monitored for anything suspicious.
But despite all of that security, I couldn't stop thinking about the sentence in Luca's letter.
You were never supposed to wake up.
I read it again and again.
Who had written it?
Luca?
Someone working with him?
Someone trying to frighten me?
The next morning, Detective Collins arrived with a photograph.
She placed it face down on the table.
"We found something."
"Another syringe?"
"No."
She turned the photograph over.
A woman stood beside Luca outside a restaurant.
She was blonde, elegant, and unfamiliar.
"Who is she?"
"We don't know yet."
I stared at the photograph.
"Then why show me?"
"Because your husband met her twelve times over the last six months."
My stomach tightened.
"Did he have an affair?"
Detective Collins didn't answer.
That was answer enough.
"What's her name?"
"Rachel Monroe."
I searched my memory.
Nothing.
"Have I ever met her?"
"Not officially."
"What does that mean?"
"She attended two events with Luca where you were also present."
I frowned.
"I don't remember her."
"She never approached you."
I stared at the photograph.
"Who is she?"
"We're checking."
Then Detective Collins gave me another photograph.
This one showed Rachel entering a medical supply company.
I looked at it.
"She works in medicine?"
"Not exactly."
"What does she do?"
"She owns a private consulting firm."
"What kind of consulting?"
"Clinical research."
My heart sank.
"That's where Luca used to work."
"Yes."
The pieces were beginning to connect.
But there was still something missing.
"Why would Luca want me dead?"
Detective Collins looked at me.
"We found a document in your house."
"What document?"
"A life insurance policy."
My blood went cold.
"I have life insurance."
"How much?"
I told her.
She shook her head.
"Not the policy we're talking about."
I stared at her.
"There was another one."
"How much?"
"Two million dollars."
My mouth went dry.
"When was it taken out?"
"Eight months ago."
Eight months.
I had been married to Luca for years.
I didn't know he had bought a two-million-dollar policy on me.
"Who was the beneficiary?"
She looked at me.
"Luca."
I closed my eyes.
For a moment, I couldn't breathe.
Then I remembered something.
The insurance paperwork.
Luca had asked me to sign something months ago.
He said it was refinancing documents.
I had signed it without reading carefully.
My hands began trembling.
"He tricked me."
"We believe so."
"Can you prove it?"
"We're working on it."
My mother stood.
"That man belongs in prison."
Detective Collins nodded.
"If the evidence confirms what we're seeing, he will have serious problems."
That afternoon, Dr. Hale came in.
He told me the infection was responding to treatment.
For the first time, he smiled.
"You're going to recover."
I cried.
Not because I was sad.
Because someone had finally said the word recover.
I was going to survive.
But then Dr. Hale's expression became serious.
"We need to discuss your ankle."
I nodded.
"The tissue damage is significant."
"Will I walk?"
"Yes."
I exhaled.
"But you'll need physical therapy."
"I can handle that."
"I believe you can."
He smiled.
"You've already handled the hardest part."
That night, I received a phone call.
The number was blocked.
I answered.
"Hello?"
Silence.
Then a woman's voice whispered,
"You don't know what Luca promised them."
My heart stopped.
"Who is this?"
"He said you wouldn't survive."
"Who are you?"
The woman hung up.
I immediately called Detective Collins.
She arrived within minutes.
We traced the call.
A disposable phone.
Purchased with cash.
No useful records.
But the voice had changed everything.
There was someone else.
Someone who knew what Luca had promised.
Two days later, the police found Rachel Monroe.
She was waiting for them.
She didn't run.
She didn't deny knowing Luca.
And when Detective Collins showed her my photograph, Rachel began to cry.
"I never wanted this to happen."
Detective Collins asked,
"What did Luca promise you?"
Rachel covered her face.
"Money."
"How much?"
"Two hundred thousand."
"For what?"
Rachel looked up.
"To make sure Jessi never went to the hospital."
My blood ran cold when Detective Collins later told me.
But Rachel had more to say.
She admitted Luca had contacted her months earlier.
He told her his wife was unstable.
He told her Jessi was ruining his life.
He told her he needed help creating a medical explanation for a future death.
Rachel initially believed he wanted assistance with insurance paperwork.
Then she discovered the truth.
"He wasn't planning an accident," she told police.
"He was planning a murder."
But there was another revelation.
Rachel said Luca wasn't the person who created the plan.
He had been recruited.
By someone who wanted access to my husband's company.
Someone who believed that after my death, Luca would inherit everything.
Someone who had already transferred money into Luca's hidden accounts.
Detective Collins asked the question.
"Who?"
Rachel stared at the table.
Then whispered a name.
"Victor Mercer."
I had never heard it before.
But Detective Collins had.
Her expression changed immediately.
"That's impossible."
Rachel shook her head.
"No."
May you like
Then she looked directly at the detective.
"Victor Mercer is Luca's father."
