Chapter 2 - THE SIGNATURE ON THE TRANSFER PAPERS
The crystal chandeliers above the dining table seemed to dim as twenty-four guests held their breath.
Luca Moretti didn't raise his voice. He didn't have to. The terrifying stillness of his posture was enough to make two of his lieutenants subtly step away from the table.
Vanessa’s face lost its arrogant flush, fading into a sickly, terrified white. Her manicured fingers gripped the edge of her silk gown.
“Luca, darling,” Vanessa stammered, her voice suddenly high and thin. “You’re misunderstanding the situation. I was only looking at boarding schools. The finest academies in Switzerland.”
“Switzerland.” Luca’s voice was dead calm. He didn't look at his fiancée. His dark eyes remained fixed entirely on his trembling ten-year-old daughter.
“Yes,” Vanessa said quickly, gaining a fraction of confidence. “It’s what’s best for her. A new environment to help her heal. She’s been so fragile since Caroline passed.”
I stood frozen against the wall, clutching the serving tray.
A boarding school in Switzerland wasn’t just a school. It was an exile. She was sending a grieving ten-year-old girl across the ocean so she wouldn't have to look at her.
“I didn't agree to send my daughter anywhere,” Luca said softly.
Vanessa folded her arms, feigning a sad, sympathetic smile.
“Actually, Luca, you did.”
The room went completely silent.
Luca slowly stood up from Isabella’s side. “Excuse me?”
Vanessa motioned to her father, Carlo Bellini, who sat at the opposite end of the table. The older mob boss simply sipped his wine and pulled a folded document from his breast pocket. He slid it across the mahogany table.
“You signed the transfer authorization yesterday morning, Luca,” Vanessa said, her voice dripping with fake pity. “Along with the new estate zoning permits. I assumed you read what you were signing.”
My stomach tightened.
Luca picked up the heavy parchment. I watched his eyes scan the paragraphs. For a moment, he didn't react. He just stared at the bottom of the page.
“This is an ironclad guardianship transfer,” Luca said quietly.
Vanessa exhaled a loud, desperate breath of relief. “You see? I handled it. It’s completely legal, darling. It’s for her own good.”
“It would be,” Luca replied, looking up. “If this was a school.”
Vanessa froze. “What?”
Luca dropped the document onto the center of the table.
“This isn't an academy, Vanessa,” he said, his voice turning to ice. “This is a psychiatric facility.”
The guests murmured in shock.
Isabella reached out and gripped my apron, her tiny fingers shaking.
“A psychiatric facility?” I whispered, unable to stop myself.
Luca slowly turned his head to look at me, then back to Vanessa.
“Yes,” Luca said softly. “A lockdown facility for severe behavioral disorders. You forged my signature to have my daughter committed.”
Vanessa burst into tears. “It wasn't a forgery! You signed it! She needs help, Luca! She wanders the halls at night. She talks to her dead mother!”
But Carlo Bellini slowly placed his wine glass down.
“It doesn't matter what kind of facility it is, Luca,” the older boss said with a cold smile. “The ink is dry. The transfer takes effect at midnight. And according to the contract, if you break it, you forfeit the warehouse district to my family.”
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He pointed a thick finger directly at me.
“And I suggest you ask your maid where she was the night Caroline died. Because my daughter isn't the one keeping secrets in this house.”
