Chapter 1 – THE LIES BENEATH THE MARBLE FLOOR

The ballroom went completely silent.

Nobody moved.

Nobody breathed.

The broken piece of amber plastic sat in Michael’s trembling palm, the typed letters of Vanessa’s name catching the light of the crystal chandeliers.

Vanessa’s face lost all its color.

She took a step backward, her expensive silk gown rustling against the marble floor.

“Michael,” she stammered, her voice suddenly entirely different from the sharp tone she’d used on me. “Where did you get that?”

Luca didn’t look at her.

He was looking at his younger brother.

“Michael,” Luca said, his voice dangerously calm. “What is that?”

“It’s her heart medication,” Michael whispered, his breathing shallow. “At least, that’s what she told me it was. She said she needed to take it before every meal.”

Luca finally turned his head.

His dark eyes locked onto his fiancée.

“Vanessa. Do you have a heart condition?”

Vanessa forced a laugh. It sounded brittle. Desperate.

“Luca, don’t be ridiculous. I have a mild arrhythmia. It’s nothing. I didn’t want to worry you.”

She pointed a shaking finger at me.

“And this little maid is obviously trying to frame me for something because I scolded her about that stupid dog.”

Bruno growled.

A low, rumbling sound that vibrated through the floorboards.

He didn’t move from Michael’s side.

“Emily,” Luca said without looking away from Vanessa.

“Yes, sir.”

“Where did you find this?”

My hands were shaking, but I forced myself to stand straight.

“Under Miss Bellini’s chair this morning in the sunroom. She dropped it when she was pouring Mr. Michael’s tea. I went to pick it up, but she stepped on it. She told me to sweep it away.”

“And you kept it,” Luca noted.

“Yes.”

“Why?”

I swallowed hard.

“Because when I swept up the pieces, the pills inside didn’t look like heart medication. My father takes heart medication. These were blue. Scored down the middle. They looked like something else.”

Vanessa lunged forward.

“You spying little—”

“Vanessa.”

Luca’s voice didn’t raise, but it hit the room like a physical blow.

She froze.

“Michael,” Luca said. “How long have you been feeling sick?”

Michael looked down at the broken plastic.

“Three weeks. Ever since I signed the preliminary documents for the downtown development project.”

The guests began to murmur.

The downtown project was worth hundreds of millions. If Michael, who managed the family’s legitimate real estate, stepped down due to illness, the control would pass directly to Luca—and by marriage, to Vanessa.

“This is a setup!” Vanessa shrieked, her composed mask completely shattered. “You’re going to believe a maid who lives in a rented apartment over the woman you’re going to marry?”

Luca walked over to Vanessa’s chair.

The one she had just vacated.

He reached down, his fingers tracing the edge of the velvet cushion.

He pulled something out from where it had been wedged between the armrest and the seat.

It wasn’t a pill bottle.

It was a heavy, silver pocket watch.

The chain dangled in the air.

Michael gasped.

“That’s Dad’s watch. It’s been missing for a month.”

Luca looked at Vanessa, his eyes completely devoid of warmth.

“Why is my father’s watch hidden in your chair, Vanessa?”

She opened her mouth, but before she could speak, Luca pressed the latch on the watch.

It popped open.

And a small, folded piece of paper fell to the floor.

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