Chapter 3 – THE STOLEN CHECKBOOK AND THE COAT IN THE HALLWAY

“Let me see that.”

Matteo held out his hand. Celeste gave him the checkbook.

My chest tightened. My mother was sick. The rent was always late. But I had never taken a dime from the Vales.

Matteo studied the deposit slips. He looked at me. The trust that had been building in his eyes just moments ago was gone.

“Emma?” he asked. “Did you take money from them?”

“No!” I stepped forward. “Mr. Moretti, I swear to you. I send half my paycheck home. I clean houses on weekends. I would never betray Arthur or this family.”

Arthur stood up slowly. His joints popped in the quiet room.

“The girl is honest, Matteo. She’s the only one in this house who is.”

Richard Vale laughed. “She’s a spy, Arthur. She’s been feeding us schedules, financial reports, and passwords for a year.”

I felt sick. They were framing me to discredit the only witness Arthur had.

But then I remembered something.

“Mrs. Vale,” I said, looking at Celeste. “How did you get my mother’s checkbook?”

Celeste rolled her eyes. “You dropped it in the hallway, you careless girl.”

“I didn’t bring it to work today,” I said.

I turned to Matteo. “Mr. Moretti, there are security cameras in the staff locker room. Check the footage from this afternoon.”

Matteo nodded at his head of security, a broad-shouldered man named Luca.

Luca tapped his earpiece. A minute passed in agonizing silence.

“Boss,” Luca said aloud. “Footage shows Richard Vale’s driver entering the staff room at three p.m. He went straight to Emma’s locker.”

Richard’s face flushed red.

Matteo dropped the checkbook on the table. “You planted the deposit slips. You stole from my maid to frame her.”

The guests began whispering loudly.

Celeste realized she was losing control. “Matteo, please! We are family. The wedding is in three days!”

Matteo looked at the gold pocket watch sitting by his plate.

“There isn’t going to be a wedding,” Matteo said.

Celeste gasped.

“Get out of my house,” Matteo told her. “Both of you.”

Richard Vale stood tall. “If we leave, I call in the ten million dollar loan tomorrow morning. You’ll be bankrupt by noon.”

Matteo didn’t blink. “Call it in.”

Richard grabbed Celeste’s arm. They stormed toward the grand double doors.

As they walked out, Richard’s driver handed him his heavy wool overcoat.

But the coat snagged on the door handle.

Something fell out of the pocket and clattered onto the marble floor.

It was a small, velvet jewelry box.

It popped open on impact.

Inside was a heavy gold necklace. The exact necklace Matteo’s mother had been buried wearing three years ago.

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