Chapter 4: The Woman Who Stepped Forward
The officer turned the velvet box toward me.
“Have you seen this necklace before?”
“Only around Isabella’s neck.”
Isabella touched her bare throat.
“It disappeared yesterday.”
Luca faced the security chief.
“Who searched Emma’s room?”
“I did, sir.
Isabella told me to.”
“You took her instructions without calling me?”
“She said the matter was private.”
Isabella shook her head.
“Listen to yourself, Luca.
You’re defending a thief because your son likes her.”
“I didn’t take it,” I said.
“Then explain how it entered your drawer.”
“I can’t.”
Matteo clung to my skirt.
“Are they taking Miss Emma away?”
The officer crouched.
“Nobody is going anywhere yet.”
Isabella pulled Matteo toward her.
“Come away from her.”
He screamed and wrapped both arms around my waist.
Pain shot through my injured hand as I tried to steady him.
“Please don’t make me leave him,” I said.
“He thinks everyone disappears.”
Isabella’s mouth curved.
“Perhaps he learned that from you.”
My knees nearly gave way.
Luca caught my elbow, but I pulled back, ashamed that I could not stop shaking.
Then Rosa, the housekeeper, stepped through the doorway.
“I saw her.”
Isabella turned.
“Go back to the kitchen.”
Rosa removed her apron and placed it on a chair.
“No.”
The single word silenced the room.
The officer stood.
“Who did you see?”
“Miss Isabella.
She entered Emma’s room at eleven fourteen last night.”
“That’s a lie,” Isabella said.
Rosa held up her phone.
“My granddaughter taught me to photograph anything that might matter.
The hallway clock is visible behind her.”
The officer studied the image.
“This shows Isabella carrying the velvet box.”
“She asked me to stay quiet,” Rosa said.
“She reminded me that my husband’s medical insurance comes through this household.”
Isabella’s face hardened.
“You misunderstood me.”
“You said, ‘Old women who lose good jobs rarely find another.’ I understood every word.”
I reached for Rosa’s hand.
“Why risk your position now?”
“Because I spent forty years teaching my daughters not to bow to bullies.” Rosa squeezed my fingers carefully.
“I won’t teach my granddaughter something different.”
The officer closed the jewelry box.
“Miss Isabella, filing a false report has consequences.”
“This is my necklace.
I can place it wherever I please.”
“No,” Luca said.
“You cannot place it in an employee’s room and accuse her.”
Isabella looked at the memory card in his hand.
“She planted that, too.”
Rosa shook her head.
“No.
I saw the cup break.”
Everyone turned toward her.
“You were in the kitchen?” I asked.
“Outside the service door.
I heard Isabella tell you to remember your place.” Rosa faced Luca.
“Then I saw her searching the broken pieces.
She wasn’t looking for a memory card.”
“The key,” Luca said.
Rosa reached into her pocket and placed a tiny brass key on the table.
“I found it beneath the refrigerator after Isabella left.”
Luca picked it up.
A number had been engraved on the side: 317.
Isabella lunged for it.
The officer caught her wrist before she reached Luca.
“Step back.”
“That belongs to me!”
Luca studied her face.
“You just told us you knew nothing about it.”
She pulled free.
“Sofia promised me what was in that box.”
“What box?” I asked.
Luca turned the key over.
“Number 317 belongs to a private vault beneath Moretti Bank.”
Isabella’s phone lit up on the table.
A message appeared before she could hide it.
DID YOU GET THE KEY?
THE BOARD VOTES AT NOON.
—VICTOR
Luca read it aloud.
May you like
Then he looked at his fiancée.
“What exactly are you and my brother planning to take from me?”
