Chapter 6 - The Betrayal Hidden Under the Engagement Ring
Three months passed.
Victor Hale's network collapsed.
The federal investigation exposed corruption across several businesses.
Giovanni Bellini's old organization was dismantled.
Vanessa remained in custody while negotiations began for her cooperation.
Daniel returned home.
Sofia rebuilt her relationship with both sons.
And Luca's mansion changed.
It became quieter.
Warmer.
There were fewer guards in the hallways.
More laughter.
For the first time, it felt like a home instead of a fortress.
I was still working there.
But not as a housekeeper.
Luca offered me a position overseeing the household administration.
I told him I knew nothing about managing a mansion.
He said, “You knew enough to catch a conspiracy.”
I took the job.
My parents' mortgage was paid off.
Dad reopened a small watch repair studio.
Mom started selling handmade jewelry online.
For the first time in years, they were doing more than surviving.
Everything seemed peaceful.
Too peaceful.
One afternoon, Daniel found me in the library.
“Emma.”
I looked up.
“Hi.”
He smiled.
“You're the one who saved my brother.”
“I think he would have done the same for me.”
Daniel shook his head.
“No.”
He hesitated.
“You don't know what you're becoming to Luca.”
I frowned.
“What does that mean?”
“He doesn't trust people.”
“I know.”
“He trusts you.”
I smiled.
“That's good.”
“It scares him.”
“Why?”
“Because everyone he loved before you came into his life had a secret.”
I looked at him.
“What secret do you have?”
Daniel laughed.
“Too many.”
Then he became serious.
“But I have something you should know.”
“What?”
“Vanessa wasn't the one who put your name on that wall.”
My heart stopped.
“What?”
He handed me a photograph.
It showed the hidden room.
My name had been written there long before Vanessa ever entered Luca's mansion.
“Who added it?”
“We don't know.”
“Then someone else knew about me.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Daniel looked away.
“That is what we're trying to figure out.”
That evening, I found Luca in his office.
I showed him the photograph.
He stared.
“You didn't know?”
“No.”
He took the picture.
“Neither did I.”
Then he looked at me.
“Stay here.”
“Why?”
“Because I'm going to make some calls.”
Two hours later, he returned.
He looked troubled.
“What did you find?”
He placed a file on the desk.
“Your father wasn't the only person Victor watched.”
I opened it.
There were records from eight years ago.
My father's watch shop.
A payment made to a private investigator.
The investigator's name.
Robert Reed.
My father's brother.
My uncle.
I looked at Luca.
“My uncle?”
“Your father told me he died ten years ago.”
“He did.”
“Then somebody used his identity.”
The next pages contained bank transfers.
A payment from an offshore account to a detective agency.
The date was seven years ago.
The destination was Canada.
Daniel stared at the page.
“That was when I disappeared.”
I felt cold.
“My family wasn't helping you.”
Luca shook his head.
“Someone was using your family.”
“Who?”
We found the answer the next morning.
The detective who had been hired under my uncle's name.
He was still alive.
And he agreed to meet us.
His name was Marcus Cole.
He arrived trembling.
“I should have gone to the police years ago.”
Luca stared at him.
“You followed Daniel?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“I was hired to keep him alive.”
I looked at Daniel.
“What?”
Marcus nodded.
“Victor hired me.”
“Then why protect him?”
“Because Victor didn't trust Vanessa.”
Daniel's face hardened.
“What did he expect?”
Marcus looked at me.
“He expected Daniel to eventually return to Chicago.”
“Why?”
“Because Victor wanted the ledger.”
I interrupted.
“That still doesn't explain my name.”
Marcus hesitated.
Then he reached into his jacket.
A photograph.
A younger version of me.
Walking out of my father's shop.
I felt sick.
“Where did you get that?”
“From Victor.”
“When?”
“Seven years ago.”
“And why was he watching me?”
Marcus looked at Luca.
“Because Victor believed Daniel had given the ledger to your father.”
“He hadn't.”
“No.”
Marcus nodded.
“He gave it to someone else.”
“Who?”
Marcus's expression became fearful.
“Your mother.”
I stared.
“My mother?”
Daniel stepped closer.
“No.”
Marcus continued.
“Daniel trusted Sofia.”
Luca's face tightened.
“But the ledger was never physically handed over.”
“Then where was it?”
Marcus looked at the new silver watch on my wrist.
“The same place Daniel put the original evidence.”
I touched it.
“Not here.”
“No.”
“Then where?”
Marcus whispered:
“Inside the Moretti family chapel.”
The old family chapel had been closed for decades.
Luca had never discussed it.
We went there that night.
The chapel stood on a hill outside the city.
The doors opened with a key Sofia gave us.
Inside, the air smelled like dust and stone.
Daniel walked toward the altar.
“Father buried the family here.”
He pointed to a small wooden compartment.
Nothing.
Then I noticed the clock above the altar.
It had stopped at 9:12.
The same time the engagement dinner began.
I climbed onto a chair.
Behind the clock was a hidden slot.
Inside was a sealed envelope.
Luca opened it.
The original ledger was there.
And a final letter from Daniel.
Luca read it aloud.
“I knew one day someone would come looking for this. If you're reading this, it means the people who betrayed us have finally turned on one another.”
Then one final line.
“Trust the girl who tells you what you don't want to hear.”
Luca looked at me.
I smiled faintly.
“You're really going to have to stop calling me a girl.”
He laughed.
Then the chapel lights went out.
A gunshot echoed.
The envelope flew from Luca's hands.
And someone screamed.
May you like
The next second, the chapel doors slammed shut.
We were trapped.
