Chapter 3 - The Boy in the Silver Locket
I backed away against the stainless-steel prep counter.
My fingers tightened around the cold metal of the locket inside my pocket.
"I don't know what you mean, Miss Bellini."
Vanessa took a step forward.
Her red silk gown rustled against the floor.
"Do not play stupid with me, Rachel. You picked it up in the dining room. I saw you."
The chef was in the pantry. The other servers were out in the hall.
We were completely alone.
"It's just a napkin, ma'am."
Her eyes darkened.
"If you don't hand over that locket in the next three seconds, I will make sure you never work in this city again. And your mother? Good luck paying her medical bills when I freeze her accounts."
My blood ran cold.
I had never mentioned my mother’s medical debt to anyone in the house.
Not even Mrs. Carter.
"How do you know about that?" I whispered.
Vanessa smiled, but it didn't reach her eyes.
"I run background checks on all the staff, Rachel. I know exactly where the pressure points are. Now, give it to me."
She held out her hand.
I had no choice.
With trembling fingers, I pulled the silver locket from my apron and placed it into her palm.
She immediately snapped it shut, her shoulders relaxing just a fraction.
"Smart girl." She dropped it back into her velvet clutch. "Now go finish the dishes. And if you breathe a word of this to Luca, I promise you won't see it coming."
She turned and walked back toward the dining room.
I stood there, my hands shaking.
She thought she had won.
She thought she had silenced me just like she had silenced Maria.
But she didn't know I had already seen the train ticket.
And she didn't know Luca was currently searching her private guest house.
Twenty minutes later, the guests began to depart.
The valets brought the cars around.
Vanessa stood at the front doors, kissing cheeks and playing the perfect, adoring fiancée.
Luca had returned from the guest house just in time to say goodbye to the senator.
His posture was rigid.
His jaw was locked.
I watched from the foyer as he placed a hand on Vanessa's lower back.
To the guests, it looked affectionate.
To me, it looked like a trap.
"Such a wonderful evening, darling," Vanessa purred as the heavy double doors finally clicked shut, leaving us alone in the grand hallway.
"Was it?" Luca asked softly.
"Of course. Though your little maid did her best to ruin it." She cast a venomous glance my way. "I think it's time we let her go, Luca. She's far too clumsy."
Luca didn't look at me.
He kept his eyes fixed on Vanessa.
"We can discuss the staff later," he said, his voice dangerously calm. "Right now, I think we should talk about your honeymoon registry."
Vanessa’s smile widened.
"Oh! Did the travel agent call?"
"No," Luca said. "I was just wondering why you need a one-way ticket to Montreal tomorrow morning."
The color vanished from Vanessa’s face.
She froze.
"I... I don't know what you're talking about."
Luca reached into his tailored suit jacket.
He pulled out a small, blue velvet box.
It wasn't a ring box.
It was a lockbox he had retrieved from her guest house.
"I found this under the floorboards in your closet, Clara."
Vanessa physically recoiled at the name.
"Luca, what is this? Have you been going through my things?"
"I asked you a question," he said, his voice dropping an octave. "Who are you running from?"
She tried to laugh, but it sounded like broken glass.
"Darling, you're scaring me. My name is Vanessa. And Montreal? I have no idea—"
"Rachel," Luca said without turning around.
"Yes, sir?"
"What did you find in her locket tonight?"
Vanessa whipped her head toward me, her eyes wide with sheer panic.
She thought I hadn't opened it.
"A photograph of a little boy, sir," I said steadily. "And a one-way train ticket to Montreal. For tomorrow at 8:00 AM."
Vanessa lunged at me.
"You lying little rat!"
Before she could close the distance, Luca caught her arm.
His grip was like a steel vice.
"Don't you ever try to touch her," he growled.
He wrenched Vanessa back, forcing her to look at him.
"You changed your name. You changed your face. But you didn't change your habits. You always did prefer to run when things got complicated."
Vanessa was breathing hard, her chest heaving against the red silk.
"You're insane," she spat. "I'll call the police."
"Call them," Luca challenged. "Let's explain to them why you were in my mother's bedroom the night she died."
Vanessa’s eyes darted toward the front door.
She was calculating her escape.
But before she could speak, the heavy oak doors swung open.
Daniel, the head of security, stepped inside.
The bitter October wind blew into the foyer.
And walking beside him was Maria Caruso.
She looked small, fragile, and exhausted.
But when she saw Vanessa, the old woman straightened her spine.
"Hello, Clara," Maria said quietly.
Vanessa let out a strangled breath.
The trap had snapped shut.
But then, Vanessa did something I didn't expect.
She stopped struggling.
She let out a low, dark laugh.
"Fine," she said, pulling her arm out of Luca's grip. "You caught me. Yes, I was Clara. Yes, I was in your mother's room."
She smoothed down her dress, her composure returning with terrifying speed.
"But if you think you've won, Luca, you're stupidiot than your brother was."
Luca stepped forward. "Where is Antonio's child?"
Vanessa smirked.
"He's safe. But if I don't get on that train tomorrow..."
She reached into her clutch and pulled out the silver locket.
May you like
"The boy dies by noon."
TITLE: The Ransom of a Forgotten Heir
