Chapter 4 – THE ENGRAVING

I pulled Sophie behind me, shielding her body with my own.

My eyes locked onto the black metal of the gun in Luca’s hand.

“Mr. Moretti, please,” I begged, my voice trembling. “Don’t do this. Not with Sophie here.”

Luca froze.

He looked at his daughter.

Sophie was staring at the gun, her little hands gripping the fabric of my apron so tightly her knuckles were white.

Luca closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and shoved the weapon into his shoulder holster, hiding it beneath his vest.

“Take her upstairs, Hannah,” he said, his voice ragged but controlled. “Lock the door to my mother’s suite. Do not open it for anyone but me.”

I didn’t wait to be told twice.

I picked Sophie up—she was a little too big for it, but she wrapped her arms around my neck and buried her face in my shoulder—and ran out of the study.

The grand hallway was empty.

The guests were gone.

The massive crystal chandeliers cast long, eerie shadows across the marble floors.

I hurried up the grand staircase, my heart hammering against my ribs.

As I reached the second-floor landing, I heard voices coming from the foyer below.

“You can’t just throw me out like a dog, Marco! Tell him! Tell him we had an agreement!”

It was Vanessa.

She was screaming.

I pressed myself against the wall, holding Sophie tight, and peered over the wooden banister.

Vanessa was standing by the front doors, her suitcases piled haphazardly on the marble floor. Her red silk dress was wrinkled, her mascara smeared down her cheeks.

Standing a few feet away from her was Uncle Marco.

He looked perfectly calm, fixing the cuffs of his expensive suit.

“We had no agreement, Vanessa,” Marco said smoothly. “You became a liability. You got careless.”

“Careless?!” Vanessa shrieked. “I kept your secret! I made sure Luca never questioned the hospital records! And now you’re letting him toss me out?”

Marco sighed, taking a step toward her.

“You were supposed to replace Catherine. You were supposed to keep Luca distracted and manageable. Instead, you terrorized an old woman, alienated the child, and practically handed the truth to a maid.”

“It’s that girl’s fault!” Vanessa sobbed, pointing upstairs. “Hannah! She ruined everything! If you hadn’t left that damn watch in Catherine’s room—”

“I didn’t leave it there,” Marco said softly.

Vanessa stopped crying.

She stared at him, confused. “What?”

“I didn’t leave the watch, Vanessa.”

Footsteps echoed from the hallway beneath me.

Luca stepped out of the shadows, walking slowly into the foyer.

His hands were empty, but the sheer menace in his posture made Vanessa stumble backward.

“No,” Luca said, his voice echoing in the massive entryway. “You left it there, Vanessa.”

Marco looked at his nephew, his face impassive. “Luca. I was just ensuring she left.”

Luca ignored him. He walked straight toward Vanessa.

“My wife died three years ago,” Luca said, his voice dangerously low. “You told me you started coming around to comfort me. To help with Sophie.”

Vanessa nodded frantically. “I did! I loved you, Luca! I’ve always loved you!”

“Then why did my daughter find this in your closet?”

Luca pulled the cracked gold pocket watch from his pocket.

Vanessa let out a strangled gasp.

“It’s Marco’s!” she cried, pointing at the older man. “It’s his watch! He pushed her over the balcony, Luca! He killed her!”

Marco shook his head slowly. “A desperate lie from a desperate woman.”

Luca flipped the watch over, staring at the back.

“It’s Marco’s watch,” Luca agreed softly. “But he didn’t push her.”

He looked up, his eyes burning with a hatred so deep it made me shudder.

“Because on the back of this watch, Catherine used a diamond pin to scratch a message into the gold.”

Vanessa froze.

“What?” she whispered.

“She didn’t die instantly when she fell,” Luca said, his voice breaking for the first time. “She lived long enough to scratch a name into the metal. The name of the person who pushed her.”

He held the watch up, the gold catching the chandelier light.

“She scratched your name, Vanessa.”

Vanessa shook her head violently. “No! No, that’s impossible! She was dead! I checked!”

The foyer went completely silent.

Vanessa clapped her hands over her mouth, realizing what she had just said.

Marco closed his eyes and sighed. “You stupid girl.”

Luca didn’t yell. He didn’t pull his gun.

He just stood there, looking at the woman he had almost married.

“You checked,” he repeated softly.

Vanessa fell to her knees on the marble floor. “Luca, please! It was an accident! We were arguing! She found out about… about me and Marco! She was going to tell you!”

My breath caught in my throat.

Vanessa and Marco.

Luca stared at his uncle.

Marco simply shrugged. “Business is business, Luca. She was useful for a time.”

“You helped her cover up my wife’s murder,” Luca stated, his voice completely devoid of emotion.

“I protected the family name,” Marco corrected smoothly. “A scandal like that would have ruined the syndicate. I paid the hospital staff. I forged the death certificate. I kept you clean, Luca.”

“You kept me clean,” Luca repeated.

He looked at the watch in his hand.

Then, he looked up at me, hiding on the stairs.

“Hannah,” Luca called out.

My heart jumped. “Yes, Mr. Moretti?”

“Take Sophie to my mother. Now.”

I didn’t hesitate. I turned and sprinted down the hallway toward Teresa’s suite.

As I unlocked the heavy oak door, I heard Marco’s voice from downstairs.

“Now, Luca, let’s be reasonable. We can dispose of her quietly—”

Then, a single gunshot echoed through the mansion.

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