Chapter 3: The Woman in the Doorway
“Who is that?” Luca asked.
I stared at his phone.
“Elena Moretti.”
Isabella’s breath caught.
Luca looked at her.
“My aunt threatened Emma?”
“No,” Isabella said.
“That recording is distorted.”
“You recognized her too.”
“I recognized nothing.”
The terrace door opened again.
Elena Moretti stood there in a gray coat, her silver hair pinned neatly behind her head.
“Why is everyone standing in the rain?”
Bruno’s growl returned.
Elena glanced at him.
“Control your dog, Luca.”
“He is controlled,” Luca said.
“Emma, tell me what happened after you fell.”
Elena’s fingers tightened around her handbag.
I forced the words out.
“Mrs.
Moretti came around the greenhouse.
She told me not to tell you.”
“Tell me what?”
Isabella cut in.
“This is absurd.
Emma hurt herself and now she’s inventing witnesses.”
“I didn’t invent her,” I said.
“She was there.”
Elena walked down the terrace steps.
“Young woman, an injured ankle does not give you permission to damage this family.”
“You threatened her,” Luca said.
“I warned an employee against spreading a false accusation.”
“You knew about the accusation before Emma made it.”
Elena stopped.
Luca held up his phone.
“You also knew where it happened.”
“That proves nothing.”
“It proves you lied by omission.”
Elena’s expression did not change.
“Then perhaps you should ask why Emma was near the greenhouse at all.”
“Bruno carried Isabella’s scarf there,” I said.
“What scarf?” Luca asked.
Isabella folded her arms.
“One she failed to return.”
“I gave it back to you.”
“No, you didn’t.”
I turned toward her.
“I placed it in your hands.”
“You put an empty scarf box in my room.
The scarf is still missing.”
Elena opened her handbag and removed a folded paper.
“This was found in Emma’s staff cottage.”
Luca took it.
“A dismissal form?”
“Effective immediately,” Elena said.
“She has lied to you, taken Isabella’s property, and disrupted this household.”
“You searched my cottage?”
“As estate administrator, I had every right.”
“No,” Luca said.
“You didn’t.”
Elena’s mouth tightened.
“Your father gave me authority over staff.”
“My father has been gone for six years.”
“And someone has had to keep this estate standing while you played businessman.”
Luca tore the dismissal form in half.
Elena stared at the pieces.
“You will regret humiliating me for a servant.”
“My name is Emma.”
Elena looked directly at me.
“Your mother used to say that with the same foolish pride.”
The garden tilted beneath me.
“You knew my mother?”
Elena gave a small smile.
“Margaret Reed worked here.
She left in disgrace, and if she were alive, she would be ashamed to see you repeating her mistakes.”
My knees weakened.
Luca caught my elbow before I fell.
“Don’t touch me,” I whispered, pulling away.
“Emma—”
“She said my mother’s name.”
Elena turned toward the house.
“Because this performance has gone far enough.”
Luca stepped into her path.
“You’re not leaving.”
“You don’t give me orders in the home I protected before you could sign your name.”
A man in a dark raincoat hurried through the terrace doors.
I recognized Marco Bell, Luca’s security director.
“Mr.
Moretti, we searched the staff cottage.”
Isabella lifted her chin.
“And?”
Marco held out a clear evidence pouch.
Inside it lay a small brass key tangled in cream-colored silk thread.
Isabella pressed a hand to her mouth.
“That opens my private safe,” she said.
“Emma stole it.”
“I’ve never seen that key,” I said.
Elena looked at Luca.
“You wanted proof.
Now you have it.”
Luca studied the silk caught around the metal.
“Where exactly did you find this?”
“Inside Emma’s coat pocket,” Marco said.
“That coat was hanging in the staff hall all morning.”
Isabella’s voice softened.
“Luca, she lied about chasing Bruno.
She lied about the scarf.
What else do you need?”
I looked at him, waiting for the doubt to appear.
Instead, Bruno pushed past us and raced through the open terrace doors.
“Bruno!” Luca called.
A crash sounded inside the house.
Seconds later, Bruno returned with something cream-colored clenched between his teeth.
May you like
Isabella’s missing scarf dragged across the wet stone.
Tied inside one corner was a second brass key.
