PART 5 — THE SECRET JESSI HID FROM THE WORLD
Luca didn’t sleep that night.
Not because of fear.
Because his mind was trying to rebuild three years of missing memories.
Every moment he had lost.
Every birthday he missed.
Every time Leo had looked around and wondered where his father was.
And now there was another secret.
Something Jessi knew.
Something Stephanie feared.
By sunrise, Luca was already back at the apartment.
Jessi opened the door and immediately knew something was wrong.
“You found out.”
Luca stared at her.
The way she said it confirmed everything.
“You knew there was something else.”
Jessi looked down.
“Luca…”
“No.”
His voice was calm, but there was pain underneath.
“Not this time.”
She remained silent.
“I spent three years believing you abandoned me.”
His eyes filled with emotion.
“Then I found out my own family took you away.”
A pause.
“And now I find out you came back carrying another secret?”
Jessi closed her eyes.
“I wanted to tell you.”
“When?”
She didn’t answer.
“When, Jessi?”
“When I knew you were ready.”
Luca laughed quietly.
“Ready?”
He shook his head.
“I lost three years with my son because everyone decided I wasn’t ready for the truth.”
The words hurt her.
Because she knew he was right.
“I was protecting Leo.”
“From who?”
Jessi looked at him.
And Luca saw something he had never seen before.
Fear.
Not sadness.
Not anger.
Fear.
“From the people who wanted him before he was even born.”
* * *
Jessi walked toward a small cabinet.
From the bottom drawer, she pulled out an old folder.
It was worn.
Hidden.
Protected.
She placed it on the table.
“This is why I left.”
Luca opened it.
Inside were documents.
Financial records.
Emails.
Photographs.
And a name.
REED HOLDINGS.
His face changed.
“The Stephanie Reed family?”
Jessi nodded.
“Three years ago, before I disappeared, I found something.”
She pointed at the papers.
“Your father’s company wasn’t in danger because of bad business.”
Luca looked through the documents.
“They were stealing from it.”
“Yes.”
His hands tightened.
“How did you find this?”
Jessi took a deep breath.
“Because I was working with your father.”
Luca froze.
“What?”
“Richard Vance knew someone inside the company was betraying him.”
She looked away.
“He asked me to help.”
“My father trusted you?”
“He did.”
The words shocked Luca.
Because his father had always been difficult.
Cold.
Demanding.
But apparently, he trusted Jessi more than his own family.
“He discovered the Reed family had been buying shares secretly.”
Jessi continued.
“They planned to force your father out and merge the company with theirs.”
Luca shook his head.
“But why would they need me to marry Stephanie?”
“Because marriage would give them control without a fight.”
Everything became clear.
Stephanie wasn’t just a fiancée.
She was a strategy.
A business deal disguised as love.
* * *
“Why didn’t my father tell me?”
Jessi’s expression softened.
“He tried.”
She opened another document.
A letter.
“This was supposed to reach you.”
Luca recognized the handwriting.
His father’s.
Again.
He opened it.
Luca,
If you are reading this, then I failed to protect you.
His heart sank.
I wanted to tell you everything, but I was afraid your mother would make things worse.
The Reed family has been closer to us than we realized.
Do not trust anyone who tells you that love and business can be separated when money is involved.
Luca continued reading.
Then he reached the final line.
And stopped.
The person who betrayed us is someone inside our family.
His blood went cold.
“Inside our family?”
Jessi nodded slowly.
“I found out who.”
Luca looked up.
“Who?”
She hesitated.
For several seconds, she said nothing.
Then:
“Your uncle.”
Luca stepped back.
“No.”
“Luca…”
“My uncle has been with my father since the beginning.”
“That’s why nobody suspected him.”
He looked at the documents again.
The evidence was there.
Transfers.
Hidden accounts.
Secret meetings.
His entire family was collapsing around him.
* * *
Suddenly, the sound of a car stopping outside interrupted them.
Jessi’s face changed instantly.
“What?”
She walked toward the window.
A black SUV was parked outside.
Luca recognized it.
A Vance security vehicle.
“What are they doing here?”
Jessi didn’t answer.
Because the door downstairs opened.
Heavy footsteps echoed through the building.
Someone was coming up.
Luca moved toward the entrance.
“Who is it?”
Jessi grabbed his arm.
“Wait.”
The fear in her voice stopped him.
Then came a knock.
Three slow knocks.
Jessi went pale.
“No…”
“Who?”
She whispered:
“The man who made me disappear.”
The door opened before Luca could ask anything.
Standing there was Wendy Vance.
His mother.
But she wasn’t alone.
Beside her stood two lawyers.
And behind them…
A police officer.
Luca stared.
“What is this?”
Wendy looked at Jessi.
Then at Leo sleeping in the other room.
Her expression was unreadable.
“I came to take my grandson home.”
Luca stepped forward.
“No.”
Wendy looked at him.
“You don’t understand what’s happening.”
“I understand enough.”
“No, Luca.”
Her voice became serious.
“Someone filed a legal claim this morning.”
Jessi’s face turned white.
“Claim for what?”
Wendy looked at Leo’s room.
“For custody.”
Silence.
Luca felt his entire body go cold.
“Who filed it?”
Wendy looked directly at Jessi.
“The Reed family.”
Jessi closed her eyes.
Because she knew.
This was the moment she had been afraid of.
The moment she had spent three years trying to prevent.
But then Wendy said something unexpected.
Something that shocked everyone.
“I didn’t come here to take Leo away.”
Luca looked confused.
“Then why?”
Wendy took a breath.
“Because the Reed family doesn’t want custody.”
A pause.
“They want something much worse.”
Luca stared.
“What?”
Wendy’s voice dropped.
“They want Leo gone.”
The room became silent.
And for the first time…
Luca realized his son wasn’t just the key to an inheritance.
He was the last piece of evidence that could destroy a powerful family.
And someone was willing to do anything to make sure that evidence disappeared.
