Chapter 7
Lucinda hired an attorney.
That ended any possibility of an informal family explanation.
Her lawyer warned Enzo not to accuse her of forgery without evidence.
Miriam agreed with the warning.
Enzo hated that.
So they followed the evidence.
The old household printer logs were long gone.
The assistant who worked for Lucinda three years earlier was not.
Her name was Patricia Lowe.
She had left the Marchetti family office eighteen months after Mara disappeared.
Patricia remembered the Callahan template.
“Lucinda told me Mr. Callahan had approved it.”
“Did you send it?” Miriam asked.
“I formatted it.”
“Did you see a signature?”
“A scanned one.”
“Who gave it to you?”
“Lucinda.”
Patricia looked sick.
“I thought it was authorized.”
She had also printed the second warning.
Again from language Lucinda provided.
Patricia never mailed either envelope herself.
A private family courier handled outgoing correspondence.
Miriam found the courier records.
Two deliveries to Milwaukee.
Both authorized by Lucinda.
That connected the paper trail.
Still, Enzo wanted to know why.
Lucinda could have hated Mara.
She could have believed Mara was wrong for Enzo.
Neither explained three years of continued interception.
Then Enzo found something in his own records.
Six weeks before Mara left, he had drafted a restructuring memorandum for his legitimate businesses.
The plan would remove family members from automatic management positions.
Independent executives would replace several relatives.
Enzo would also move out of the main Marchetti estate with Mara and Lily.
He had forgotten how close they were to doing it.
Mara had pushed hardest for the move.
Lucinda opposed it openly.
At one dinner she told Enzo:
“If you leave this house, everyone will know your wife owns you.”
He had laughed then.
Mara had not.
The restructuring stalled after Mara disappeared.
Enzo stayed in the estate.
Lucinda remained deeply involved.
Miriam read the old memo.
“Mara leaving solved several problems for Lucinda.”
Enzo looked at her.
“That sounds like motive.”
“It is motive.”
“Not proof.”
“You’re learning.”
He did not smile.
The next morning Mara agreed to let Enzo join one video call.
Only twenty minutes.
No Lily yet.
Enzo sat in Miriam’s conference room when Mara appeared on the screen.
For several seconds neither spoke.
Three years collapsed into silence.
Finally Mara said:
“You look older.”
“So do you.”
“Good start.”
He almost smiled.
Then she asked:
“Did you really never come to the hotel?”
“No.”
Her face changed.
“I waited until three in the morning.”
Enzo looked down.
“I didn’t know where you were.”
Mara closed her eyes.
The call ended seventeen minutes later.
May you like
Neither asked whether they still loved each other.
They were nowhere near that question.
