The old Moretti family estate was located fifty miles outside the city, isolated by acres of dense, overgrown forest. No one had lived there since Luca's mother passed away.

Or so Luca had thought.

I sat in the passenger seat of his SUV, gripping the silver pocket watch in my hands. The metal was cold. Heavy.

"Elena Rostova," Luca murmured as he drove, his eyes focused on the dark road ahead. "Matteo’s girlfriend. She was a waitress at a diner downtown. My father hated her."

"Did your uncle hate her too?" I asked softly.

"Arthur only cares about money and power," Luca replied, his grip tightening on the steering wheel. "If Arthur orchestrated the crash to kill my brother... it was to remove Matteo from the line of succession for the family business."

"But why keep Elena alive?" I asked, looking down at the watch. "Why hide her for six years?"

"Because of the child," Luca said grimly. "If Matteo had a legitimate heir, Arthur would never gain control of the trust. He probably didn't realize Elena was pregnant until after he took her."

My stomach turned. Six years. A woman had been locked in a basement for six years, believing her child was either dead or in the hands of a monster.

And Vanessa—who had treated me so cruelly—had been trapped in her own nightmare, forced to marry a man she didn't love just to keep her niece alive.

Wait.

I looked up. "Luca. If Isabella is Elena and Matteo's daughter... why did Vanessa call herself Isabella's aunt?"

Luca slowed the car slightly. He frowned.

"Vanessa's maiden name is Bellini," Luca said slowly. "Elena's last name was Rostova."