Chapter 2 - THE $24,000 LIE
Bella answered before the second ring.
“Hello?”
“Ms. Rossi, this is Dr. Amelia Chen from St. Agnes. I'm calling about Luca.”
The physician's measured voice frightened Bella more than panic would have.
“What's wrong?”
“Luca developed a high fever this evening. His blood pressure dropped, and we've transferred him to intensive monitoring.”
Bella grabbed the back of a chair.
“He was fine this morning.”
“I understand. We're running additional tests. You need to come as soon as possible.”
“I'm on my way.”
She ended the call.
For a moment, the entire restaurant disappeared.
All she could see was Luca at eight that morning, sitting at their chipped kitchen table, trying to fold a paper crane from an overdue electricity notice.
He had handed it to her with a tired smile.
“For good luck, Bells.”
He called her Bells because he had been too little to pronounce Isabella when their mother first taught him her name.
Bella turned toward Henderson, who had finally emerged from the kitchen.
“My brother's in the hospital. I have to leave.”
Henderson glanced nervously at Moretti.
“Of course. Go.”
Bella grabbed her coat from the service closet.
She was halfway to the front door when Alessandro spoke.
“Vinnie. Bring the car around.”
Bella stopped.
“I have a car.”
“You're shaking.”
“I'm also capable of driving.”
“It's pouring outside.”
“Then I'll get wet.”
Alessandro approached her, keeping several feet between them.
“The paper you found suggests your brother may have received compromised medication. I need to speak with his doctor.”
“You need to stay away from him.”
“Bella—”
“Don't.”
He fell silent.
She had spent her entire life watching powerful people make decisions and expecting everyone else to accept them.
Hospital administrators.
Insurance representatives.
Landlords.
Now this man.
“My brother is not part of your business,” she said.
Alessandro looked back at the envelope.
“Apparently, somebody made him part of it without either of us knowing.”
Her anger faltered just enough for fear to rush in.
“Then do something useful. Find out who.”
She pushed through the door and ran into the rain.
Twenty-three minutes later, Bella entered the pediatric wing of St. Agnes with soaked hair, aching feet, and terror lodged beneath her ribs.
Dr. Chen met her outside Luca's room.
The doctor was in her early forties, with tired eyes and the kind of calm people developed after witnessing too much suffering.
“He's stable for now,” she said immediately.
Bella nearly collapsed with relief.
“Can I see him?”
“Yes. But first, I need to ask a question.”
Bella stiffened.
“What question?”
“Has Luca missed any scheduled medication?”
“No.”
“Any delays with his infusion supply?”
“The billing office said everything was approved.”
Dr. Chen frowned.
“I'm asking because his latest bloodwork doesn't show the response we expected.”
Bella remembered the shipment document.
Her stomach tightened.
“What would happen if he received the wrong medicine?”
The doctor's expression changed.
“Why would you ask that?”
Bella took a breath.
Then she told her what had happened at the restaurant.
Not every detail.
She omitted the raised glass and the bodyguard reaching into his jacket.
But she described the envelope, the shipment number, and the alarming words written beside Luca's name.
By the time she finished, Dr. Chen had stopped taking notes.
“Do you have a copy?”
“Not yet.”
“Then we need one.”
“You believe me?”
“I believe you're telling me something serious enough to investigate.”
She opened the door.
Luca lay beneath a pale blue blanket, his narrow face almost swallowed by the pillow.
A clear tube ran into his arm.
His dark lashes rested against cheeks that had grown too thin over the past year.
Bella crossed the room and took his hand.
“Hey, troublemaker.”
His eyes opened.
“Bells?”
“That's me.”
“Did you finish work?”
“Early.”
“Did you get fired?”
She laughed weakly.
“Not yet.”
“Good.”
He squeezed her fingers.
“Because Mr. Henderson makes those little cakes you bring home.”
Bella sat beside him.
“I'll bring you a whole bakery when you get out.”
Luca considered that.
“Can I have pancakes instead?”
“Anything you want.”
He smiled.
Then his expression became serious.
“Are we out of money?”
The question struck harder than any insult Alessandro Moretti could have delivered.
Bella brushed the hair from his forehead.
“Why would you ask that?”
“I heard the lady on the phone.”
“Which lady?”
“The one who said twenty-four thousand.”
Bella swallowed.
“Luca—”
“I know medicine costs money.”
“Sweetheart—”
“And I know you're tired.”
Bella looked away.
Tears blurred the monitor beside his bed.
He continued quietly.
“If I don't need another treatment, maybe you could get new shoes.”
She bent forward and wrapped him in her arms as carefully as the IV line allowed.
“Listen to me,” she whispered. “You never have to worry about paying for being alive. That's my job.”
“But—”
“No buts.”
She kissed his forehead.
“Your job is to get better.”
At 11:47 p.m., Bella found Alessandro Moretti standing at the far end of the hospital corridor.
He had no bodyguards visible.
His dark suit was damp at the shoulders.
In one hand he held a sealed document folder.
Bella stopped.
“I told you to stay away.”
“I stayed out of his room.”
“That's not what I meant.”
“I know.”
He offered the folder.
She didn't take it.
“What is that?”
“A copy of the shipping record. The one you saw at dinner.”
“Why bring it here?”
“Because your doctor will need something she can verify.”
Bella took the folder slowly.
Inside were photographs of several invoices.
Each carried the same blue star-shaped identification mark.
She recognized the symbol.
Her mother had once drawn that exact star in the margins of a little notebook.
Bella had never understood why.
“Where did you get these?”
“From Bianke.”
“What does your company actually do?”
“Freight. Warehousing. Import contracts.”
“And what else?”
Alessandro didn't answer immediately.
Bella gave a bitter laugh.
“That's what I thought.”
He glanced toward Luca's room.
“How long has he been sick?”
“Almost two years.”
“What condition?”
“A rare immune disorder. His body attacks parts of its own blood system. The doctors finally found a treatment that was supposed to help.”
“Supposed to?”
“He keeps getting worse.”
Alessandro looked down at the documents.
“Has anyone explained why?”
“Doctors don't always have answers.”
“No,” he agreed. “But companies are supposed to.”
Bella studied him.
“Why are you helping me?”
He looked at her for a long moment.
“Because I believe the records are real.”
“That isn't an answer.”
His jaw tightened.
“My father built his fortune using people who never had a choice. I told myself I was different because I gave the businesses legitimate names.”
“Were you?”
“No.”
The admission surprised her.
He continued.
“I knew some of our money came from things I shouldn't have tolerated. I didn't know children were being used.”
Bella's fingers tightened around the folder.
“You don't get points for being surprised.”
“I wasn't asking for any.”
Before she could respond, Dr. Chen emerged from Luca's room.
“Bella?”
Both turned.
“I've just received an unusual call from hospital administration.”
“What kind of call?”
Dr. Chen looked at the folder in Bella's hand.
“They've instructed us not to release Luca's medication records without executive approval.”
Bella went cold.
“Why?”
“I wasn't given an explanation.”
Alessandro's expression hardened.
Dr. Chen lowered her voice.
“And there's something else.”
Bella gripped the folder.
“What?”
“The hospital just canceled Luca's next infusion.”
Bella stared at her.
“But he needs it.”
“I know.”
“Then why would they do that?”
Dr. Chen hesitated.
“According to the notice, the medication is unavailable.”
Bella looked down at the invoice.
Her brother's treatment had been approved, billed, and paid for.
Yet somehow, no medication existed.
Alessandro glanced toward the darkened administrative offices.
May you like
Then he said something that made Bella's blood run cold.
“Because somebody knows we're asking questions.”
