Chapter 6 - Serena’s Warning
Luca read Serena’s note until the handwriting blurred.
For four years, he had avoided looking at anything written during her final months.
Not because he had forgotten her.
Because remembering hurt too much.
Now the dead were asking questions the living had refused to answer.
Keene sat in Luca’s study that afternoon.
Hannah stayed with Sophia in the adjoining family room, where an independent physical therapist named Renee Caldwell had arrived for an initial evaluation.
Renee was a pediatric neurologic physical therapist, not a physician, and she made that distinction immediately.
“We are not declaring a miracle,” she told Luca. “We’re assessing what Sophia can do safely today.”
Luca appreciated that.
No promises.
No spectacle.
No one using his daughter to prove a theory.
In the study, Keene opened a file.
“Serena suspected inflated foundation contracts approximately five months before she died.”
“What kind?”
“Transportation. Home care. Equipment procurement.”
“Aster?”
“Aster didn’t exist yet.”
Luca frowned.
“Then who?”
“Several companies. Most disappeared after Serena questioned them.”
“Connected to Vivian?”
“She couldn’t prove it.”
“And you did nothing?”
Keene took the accusation without protest.
“I reviewed what she gave me. The amounts were concerning but fragmented. Serena was sick. She asked me not to start a formal investigation until she had more.”
“Why?”
“She feared accusing her sister without enough evidence would destroy the family.”
Luca laughed bitterly.
“She was protecting Vivian.”
“She was protecting you too.”
That silenced him.
Serena had always known Luca’s instinct when threatened.
He attacked problems directly.
Sometimes before understanding them.
“She left anything else?”
“One sealed memorandum.”
Luca looked up.
“Where?”
“I gave it to her.”
“You don’t have a copy?”
“No.”
“Where did she put it?”
“I don’t know.”
Luca stood.
“How can you not know?”
“Because she was entitled to confidentiality.”
“She was my wife.”
“And my client.”
The answer infuriated Luca.
It also made legal sense.
Keene continued.
“She told me that if the audit remained unresolved, the memorandum would eventually reach you through her personal files.”
“I went through everything after she died.”
“Did you?”
The question landed quietly.
Luca looked away.
No.
He had not.
Vivian had organized Serena’s belongings because Luca could barely enter the bedroom.
She had boxed the clothes.
Sorted documents.
Closed accounts.
Handled the foundation.
Again, Vivian had occupied the spaces grief left empty.
Luca walked into the family room.
Sophia was standing between two parallel support rails Renee had brought.
Her legs trembled.
Hannah sat several feet away.
No one was touching Sophia.
“One step if you want,” Renee said.
Sophia looked at Luca.
He smiled.
“You don’t have to prove anything.”
She considered that.
Then moved one foot.
A tiny step.
She laughed.
Renee smiled.
“Good. Now sit before your muscles decide they hate me.”
Sophia giggled.
The sound nearly destroyed Luca.
For years, therapy had become associated with dread.
Today she was laughing.
Hannah handed her apple juice.
Sophia drank proudly.
Renee joined Luca near the doorway.
“Her strength is reduced from disuse, but she has meaningful voluntary control.”
“Does that mean she should have been walking?”
“It means I need records and physician evaluation before answering bigger questions.”
“Could fear stop someone from walking for three years?”
“Functional neurological disorder can cause prolonged movement symptoms. Fear, attention, pain, expectations and reinforcement can all influence it. That doesn’t mean the symptoms are fake.”
“I know.”
“You need to keep knowing it.”
Luca nodded.
“What happens now?”
“Independent pediatric neurology. Psychology experienced with functional symptoms. Gradual rehab. No dramatic testing.”
He glanced toward Hannah.
“Did seeing her trigger this?”
Renee followed his gaze.
“Possibly. Familiar cues can activate movement patterns. But don’t turn Hannah into medicine. Sophia needs confidence that belongs to Sophia.”
Hannah heard.
She nodded.
“I agree.”
That response mattered to Luca.
Later, after Sophia rested, Luca opened Serena’s old storage room.
Boxes filled shelves.
Vivian had labeled everything neatly.
SERENA — CLOTHING.
SERENA — PERSONAL.
FOUNDATION.
PHOTOS.
Luca opened the personal box.
Letters.
Jewelry cases.
A scarf that still carried the faintest trace of Serena’s perfume, or perhaps Luca only imagined it.
At the bottom was a leather journal.
Most pages contained ordinary thoughts.
Fear about treatment.
Notes to Sophia.
Arguments with Luca about working too much.
Then Luca found Vivian’s name.
June 12.
Viv says I’m paranoid about the vendor payments. Luca is already carrying too much. I need facts before I involve him.
June 19.
Owen P. attended finance meeting though nobody introduced him formally. Vivian says he is “temporary operations support.” Why does temporary support have access to donor contracts?
Luca stopped.
Owen Price.
The name existed before Aster.
Before Sophia stopped walking.
He continued.
July 3.
M.K. reviewing invoices. Found three vendors using same mailing address. V furious I asked.
July 8.
I hate suspecting my sister.
Then the final relevant entry.
July 11.
If I’m right, this is larger than money. Vivian needs to be needed. When I question her, she doesn’t defend the numbers. She reminds me how much I depend on her.
Luca closed the journal.
A memory surfaced.
Serena and Vivian arguing in the kitchen during Serena’s final summer.
At the time Luca assumed they were fighting about treatment.
He had entered halfway through.
Vivian had said, “You think everyone is trying to control you.”
Serena had answered, “No. Just you.”
Luca had forgotten.
Or chosen to.
Hannah appeared at the storage-room door.
“Sophia’s asleep.”
Luca handed her the journal.
She read the pages.
“This started before me.”
“Yes.”
“And before Sophia’s illness.”
“Yes.”
Hannah looked toward the boxes.
“Then keeping Sophia dependent wasn’t the original plan.”
Luca understood immediately.
“It was an opportunity.”
Hannah nodded grimly.
His phone rang.
Daniel again.
“We found Owen.”
“Where?”
“He’s still in New York. But there’s something else.”
“What?”
“After you restricted Vivian’s foundation access this morning, someone attempted to delete three years of vendor records from the cloud server.”
“Can we recover them?”
“Our IT team says yes.”
“Who logged in?”
A pause.
“Vivian’s credentials.”
Luca looked at Serena’s journal.
“Freeze everything.”
“Already done.”
Daniel lowered his voice.
“And Luca?”
“Yes?”
“The login didn’t come from Vivian’s home.”
“Where?”
“Aster Home Mobility’s office.”
Which meant Vivian was not working alone.
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And whoever was beside her was now trying to erase Serena’s warning permanently.
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