Chapter 4 - The Woman Behind the Locked Door|
Gabriel had his security team review the medical records access before breakfast.
By ten, they had identified three people who could have used the account: Lucia's personal assistant, the estate's physician, and a former employee whose credentials had never been deactivated.
The last name belonged to a man who had supposedly left the family business eighteen months earlier.
Anthony Vale.
Gabriel knew him well.
Anthony had worked as a security coordinator during the final years of Gabriel's father's life. He had been dismissed after an argument over missing funds, but Lucia had insisted that the matter remain private.
Gabriel had assumed his mother was protecting the family's reputation.
Now he wondered whether she had been protecting someone else.
He summoned his security chief, Marco Bellini, to the study.
“Find Anthony.”
“We're already checking his known addresses.”
“Quietly.”
Marco hesitated.
“Boss, if someone is accessing Mrs. Moretti's medical information, we should inform the hospital and the police.”
“We will. But I want to know how the account was used before we alert anyone who might be involved.”
Marco nodded.
“And Mrs. Moretti?”
“She doesn't need another reason to be afraid.”
The words sounded noble.
They also sounded like the beginning of another secret.
Gabriel realized it too late.
That afternoon, Anna woke from a nap and found him standing beside the bedroom window with his phone pressed to his ear.
“No,” he said. “You don't contact her. You don't go near the hospital. You wait until I tell you otherwise.”
He ended the call.
Anna sat up.
“Who was that?”
“A security matter.”
“What kind of security matter?”
“Someone accessed your medical records.”
Her expression changed.
“Who?”
“We're investigating.”
“Why didn't you tell me when you found out?”
“I didn't want to frighten you.”
She looked at him for a long moment.
“Gabriel, I'm receiving cancer treatment. I already know how frightening my life is. You don't protect me by making me the last person to know what happens to me.”
He lowered his phone.
“You're right.”
The answer seemed to surprise her.
She pulled the blanket around her shoulders.
“Did you find out who did it?”
“We have a suspect. A former employee named Anthony Vale.”
“Why would he look at my records?”
“I don't know yet.”
Anna's face had gone pale.
“Has he been here?”
“Not that we know.”
“Could he come here?”
Gabriel sat beside her.
“The estate is secure. I will make sure no one approaches you without permission.”
She looked down at her hands.
“I hate that sentence.”
He frowned.
“Why?”
“Because it makes me feel like a prisoner.”
The words struck him hard.
He had surrounded the estate with guards, installed cameras, and ordered the staff to report every unfamiliar visitor. He had told himself he was creating safety.
But Anna had spent years living inside the consequences of his fear.
“Then tell me what would make you feel safer,” he said.
She considered it.
“I want to be able to walk through the garden without someone following me. I want to visit the café we used to go to without a security detail sitting at the next table. And I want to know what you're doing when it affects me.”
Gabriel nodded slowly.
“I can arrange that.”
“Can you?”
“Yes. With reasonable precautions that we decide together.”
She studied him, looking for the hidden condition.
“Together,” she repeated.
“Together.”
For the next hour, they discussed practical boundaries. Anna agreed to keep her phone with her and tell him if she felt unsafe. Gabriel agreed that security would remain discreet and that no one would enter her room without her consent.
When he left to speak with Marco, Anna finally relaxed enough to eat half a bowl of soup.
It was a small victory.
That evening, Lucia came to the bedroom carrying a tray of tea.
She stopped when she saw Anna's shortened hair.
“Oh, sweetheart.”
Anna touched the uneven ends near her jaw.
“I got tired of waiting for it to fall out.”
Lucia placed the tray down.
“May I sit?”
Anna nodded.
Lucia took the chair beside the bed.
“I should have told Gabriel about your diagnosis earlier.”
Anna looked surprised.
“You kept my secret.”
“I kept the wrong secret for too long. I thought I was respecting your wishes, but I also knew my son had made it difficult for you to ask for help.”
She paused.
“I should have encouraged you to tell him. I should have made sure you had support beyond me.”
Anna's eyes filled.
“I was so scared.”
“I know.”
“No, you don't. Everyone keeps telling me I'm brave. I don't feel brave. I feel angry that my body is doing this, and guilty because I know other people have it worse, and embarrassed because I can't even look in the mirror without thinking about what comes next.”
Lucia reached for her hand.
“You don't have to perform courage for anyone in this house.”
Anna began to cry.
Lucia held her hand without trying to stop the tears.
From the hallway, Gabriel watched them through the open door. He did not interrupt.
For the first time, he understood that helping Anna did not always mean doing something.
Sometimes it meant allowing another person to sit beside her while she fell apart.
Later that night, Marco returned with a report.
Anthony Vale had not been seen in eighteen months.
But his bank account had received a payment two days earlier.
The money came from a private company owned by Lucia Moretti.
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And the payment reference contained two words.
MEDICAL RECORDS.
