Chapter 3 - The Maid Who Wasn't a MaidElla couldn't breathe.
“No.”
Marina nodded.
“Your father was Samuel Vance.”
Ella stared.
“That can't be.”
“Your grandmother knew.”
Lorenzo looked between them.
“Explain.”
Marina told the story.
Samuel Vance had worked for Vittorio Moretti.
He had an affair with a woman named Claire.
They had a daughter.
Ella.
When Vittorio discovered it, he wanted the girl eliminated because Samuel had threatened to expose the family.
Lorenzo's father protected Ella.
He arranged for her grandmother to raise her under another surname.
Ella had grown up believing her father died before she was born.
He hadn't.
He had been murdered.
And his final records had been hidden in the Moretti estate.
Ella stared at Lorenzo.
“So I'm…”
“Family,” Marina whispered.
Lorenzo sat slowly.
Their entire relationship changed in one sentence.
She wasn't a servant.
She wasn't an outsider.
She was his half-sister.
His father's daughter.
The missing branch of the family.
Ella covered her mouth.
“Why did nobody tell me?”
“Because your existence could destroy the succession plan.”
“What succession plan?”
Marina opened the ledger.
“The Moretti fortune was divided among the legitimate heirs.”
Lorenzo.
His children.
And Ella.
But there was more.
A clause.
The fortune could only remain consolidated if all heirs were alive and legally recognized.
If one was declared dead, the share reverted to a trustee.
The trustee was controlled by Isabella.
Lorenzo understood.
“This is why she needs the children.”
“Yes.”
“And why she wants me dead.”
“Yes.”
Ella looked at Marina.
“Then why the freezer?”
“To make you look responsible.”
Lorenzo nodded.
“She knew if my children nearly died because of a maid, I'd punish you.”
Ella looked at him.
He realized the truth.
If he had arrived ten minutes earlier without evidence, he might have ordered Ella removed.
Maybe worse.
She had nearly become the scapegoat.
Then a child cried upstairs.
Lorenzo ran.
Mia was awake.
She was sitting in bed.
Her eyes were full of tears.
“Daddy.”
He sat beside her.
“What happened?”
“The lady came again.”
“What lady?”
Mia pointed toward the door.
“She had Grandma's necklace.”
Lorenzo froze.
“Which grandma?”
She whispered:
“Your grandmother.”
Lorenzo's mother was dead.
His grandmother had been dead longer.
He looked toward Ella.
“Did she see Isabella?”
Mia nodded.
“What did Isabella say?”
“She said Daddy would go away.”
Lorenzo's jaw tightened.
“And then?”
“She said we'd go with her.”
Ella moved closer.
Mia looked at her.
“She is nice.”
“To you?”
“Yes.”
Lorenzo stared.
Mia smiled.
“She found me when I was scared.”
Lorenzo felt something cold settle in his stomach.
Isabella had been manipulating his children for months.
Leo entered.
He looked at Ella.
“You found us.”
Ella smiled.
“Yes.”
Leo hugged her.
Lorenzo watched.
His son had never hugged strangers.
Leo whispered:
“She said not to trust you.”
“Who?”
“Isabella.”
Silence.
Lorenzo looked at Rocco.
“Find her.”
Rocco shook his head.
“She left.”
“When?”
“Five minutes ago.”
The doors were locked.
No cameras.
No trace.
Lorenzo stared at the hallway.
Then Ella noticed something.
A small envelope under the bed.
Inside was a photograph.
Isabella.
Holding an infant.
The infant was Mia.
On the back:
FIRST CHILD CLAIMED.
Ella turned pale.
“This isn't over.”
Lorenzo looked at her.
“What does that mean?”
Ella pointed to the photograph.
“There's another one.”
May you like
“Another what?”
“Another child.”
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