Chapter 3 - The Security Footage Proved Someone Had Been Watching My Daughter for Weeks
By morning, the mansion had become a fortress.
Every entrance was guarded.
Every employee was questioned.
Every camera was reviewed.
Alessandro barely slept.
Neither did I.
At six in the morning, someone knocked.
Victor entered with a tablet.
“We found something.”
Alessandro looked up.
“Show me.”
Victor played security footage.
It showed Emma walking through the garden.
She was carrying her stuffed rabbit.
Behind her, someone stood near the hedge.
A man.
Black jacket.
Baseball cap.
He watched her.
I recognized him.
“That's Daniel.”
Alessandro looked at me.
“You know him?”
“He works in the laundry.”
Victor froze.
Alessandro's eyes became ice.
“Bring him to me.”
Daniel was found twenty minutes later.
He tried to run.
He didn't get far.
When they brought him into the study, he was terrified.
Alessandro stood behind his desk.
“You've been watching my property.”
Daniel said nothing.
“You sold information.”
Nothing.
Alessandro placed the receipt on the table.
Daniel's face changed.
“Who paid you?”
“I don't know.”
“You expect me to believe that?”
“I swear.”
Alessandro stepped closer.
“Who?”
Daniel finally whispered a name.
“Rafael.”
Victor's face went pale.
“Rafael?”
Alessandro stared at him.
“Rafael Santoro.”
I didn't know the name.
Victor did.
“His former lieutenant.”
Alessandro's expression darkened.
Rafael had once been Alessandro's closest friend.
Then he betrayed him.
He disappeared five years ago.
Everyone believed he was dead.
Apparently, he wasn't.
Daniel confessed.
Rafael had been paying him for information.
Employee schedules.
Security changes.
Alessandro's movements.
And most importantly—
Emma.
“Why her?”
Daniel swallowed.
“Rafael said the little girl was the only person capable of making you careless.”
Alessandro looked toward me.
Daniel continued.
“He said Moretti would burn his entire empire before letting anyone touch her.”
My heart pounded.
“Why?”
Daniel didn't answer.
Alessandro grabbed his collar.
“Why?”
“He said she wasn't just a weakness.”
Alessandro's eyes narrowed.
“What does that mean?”
Daniel whispered:
“She was leverage.”
Then Daniel revealed something worse.
Rafael hadn't only been watching Emma.
He had been watching me.
For six weeks.
Every morning.
Every shift.
Every time I took Emma outside.
Every time Alessandro spoke to us.
Someone had been studying our lives.
Alessandro turned to Victor.
“Find Rafael.”
Victor nodded.
Then Alessandro looked at me.
“You're staying here.”
I shook my head.
“No.”
“You're not leaving.”
“Why?”
“Because Rafael already knows where you live.”
I stared at him.
Alessandro lowered his voice.
“And now he knows exactly how much I care.”
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That sentence changed everything.
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