Chapter 2 - WHAT WAS HIDDEN IN THE PIANO
Luca didn’t speak for a long time.
The silence in the study was so heavy I could hear the grandfather clock ticking in the hallway.
He looked at the small bruise on my neck, his eyes darkening with a quiet, dangerous anger.
Then he stood up.
“Stay here, Emily.”
“Sir, the guests—”
“The guests can wait.”
He walked out of the study and headed straight for the music room.
I was terrified of Vanessa, but I was more terrified of letting him go alone. I pulled my uniform collar up and followed him, keeping my distance.
When I reached the doorway, Luca was already kneeling beside the grand piano.
He didn’t hesitate. He reached under the heavy mahogany body, his fingers feeling along the wooden beams just behind where the brass identification plate used to be.
There was a quiet click.
A hidden compartment dropped open.
My breath caught.
Luca reached inside. But his expression instantly changed.
The compartment was empty.
Whatever his mother had hidden there all those years ago was already gone.
“She beat us to it,” he whispered, his jaw clenching.
But as he pulled his hand back, something fluttered to the floor.
It had been wedged tightly in the felt lining, left behind in the rush.
I stepped forward and picked it up.
It was a faded, vintage photograph.
But it wasn’t a picture of his mother.
It was a photograph of Vanessa. She looked much younger, standing in front of a familiar brick building.
But that wasn’t what made my blood run cold.
Around Vanessa’s neck was a heavy, emerald necklace.
“That’s my mother’s,” Luca said, his voice dropping to a deadly whisper. “She reported that stolen the night my father died.”
Vanessa hadn’t just been digging for secrets. She was connected to the darkest tragedy in the Moretti family.
Before Luca could say another word, I felt something heavy slip out of my apron pocket.
It clattered onto the hardwood floor.
May you like
We both looked down.
It was Vanessa’s diamond engagement ring.
