Chapter 3 - THE SECRET IN CLARA'S FILE
The following morning, Vincent ordered a complete review of Clara Hayes's employment history.
Not because he wanted to fire her.
Because he wanted to understand her.
The report contained something unusual.
Two years earlier, Clara had worked at a rehabilitation center in Boston.
Before that, she'd been employed at a pediatric hospital.
Then came the unexplained gap.
Vincent studied the file.
“Why did she leave?”
Dominic hesitated.
“The records are incomplete.”
Vincent looked up.
“Find out.”
Dominic nodded.
But later that afternoon, Vincent discovered the answer by accident.
Clara was sitting beside Matteo's bed, reading a children's adventure novel.
Matteo looked at her.
“Do you have kids?”
Clara stopped reading.
For a moment, her expression changed.
Then she smiled sadly.
“I did.”
Vincent froze.
Matteo frowned.
“What happened?”
Clara looked down at the book.
“My daughter died.”
Silence.
Matteo stared at her.
“How old?”
“Six.”
His eyes widened.
“That's younger than me.”
Clara nodded.
“Yes.”
Matteo looked at her.
“Do you miss her?”
Clara's voice trembled.
“Every day.”
Matteo thought about that.
Then asked:
“Does it ever stop hurting?”
Clara looked at him.
“No.”
His face fell.
“But it changes.”
He looked up.
“How?”
She smiled faintly.
“At first, the sadness feels like the whole world.”
She paused.
“Later, you start remembering the good things too.”
Matteo looked toward the blue star.
“Like Mommy's pancakes?”
Clara laughed softly.
“Exactly.”
Vincent stepped away from the monitor.
He had spent days wondering why Clara understood his son's grief.
Now he knew.
May you like
She wasn't speaking from training manuals.
She was speaking from loss.
