Chapter 2
The next morning, Rocco canceled every engagement event scheduled for the week.
He did not cancel the wedding.
Not yet.
That distinction infuriated Victoria.
She called twelve times.
Rocco answered once.
“I need to explain.”
“You had an explanation before you crushed my son’s hearing aid.”
“I panicked.”
“Why?”
Silence.
Rocco waited.
Victoria finally said, “Marcus told me Noah had misunderstood something.”
“That isn’t why you destroyed it.”
“I wasn’t thinking.”
“You told him he heard something he wasn’t supposed to hear.”
Another silence.
Rocco ended the call.
Maria was standing outside his office when he opened the door.
“What?”
She hesitated.
“Miss Hayes asked me about Noah’s spare hearing aid before.”
Rocco stopped.
“When?”
“About two weeks ago.”
“What did she ask?”
“Where I kept it.”
“Why?”
“She said she wanted to know in case something happened while I wasn’t around.”
That sounded reasonable.
Which made it more disturbing.
“Did you tell her?”
“Yes.”
Maria looked ashamed.
“It was an ordinary question.”
Rocco’s voice softened.
“You had no reason to think otherwise.”
Then Maria added something.
“Three days later, the case had been moved.”
“Moved where?”
“Same cabinet. Different shelf.”
“You think someone opened it?”
“I don’t know.”
Rocco did not turn suspicion into fact.
But he wrote the date down.
First clue.
Victoria had been interested in Noah’s backup hearing device before the engagement reception.
Evelyn arrived an hour later with Rocco’s current estate documents.
Noah was the primary beneficiary of Rocco’s legitimate assets.
If Rocco died while Noah was a minor, an independent trust company would manage the money.
Marcus had no authority over it.
Neither would a future spouse.
Victoria could inherit certain personal assets after marriage, but she could not touch Noah’s trust.
Rocco looked at Evelyn.
“Then why would Marcus be talking about money being safe?”
“I don’t know.”
“What changes after marriage?”
“Your marital property situation.”
“Anything involving Noah?”
“Not unless you change it.”
Rocco leaned back.
“Who has asked you about changing it?”
Evelyn looked at him.
“Marcus.”
The room went still.
“When?”
“Four weeks ago.”
“What did he want?”
“He asked whether a family member could replace the institutional trustee.”
Rocco’s eyes hardened.
“What did you tell him?”
May you like
“That it wasn’t his trust.”
Second clue.
