Chapter 9 - THE HAPPY ENDING
By midnight, everything had changed.
We didn’t stay in the cramped apartment. Luca insisted we pack our things.
When we arrived back at the Moretti estate, the engagement guests were entirely gone. The mansion was quiet, safe, and warm.
Mrs. Carter, the head housekeeper who had ignored my injury all night, was standing in the foyer looking terrified.
Luca didn’t yell. He just handed her a severance check.
“Pack your things,” he told her coldly. “You’re done here.”
As she scurried away, Luca turned to my mother.
“Sarah,” he said gently. “The east wing is yours. It always should have been. You saved my brother. You saved our family.”
My mother wept as Daniel wrapped his arms around her, holding the woman who had raised him like a son.
I stood off to the side, holding Leo’s hand, feeling entirely overwhelmed.
I was still wearing my housekeeping uniform. My throat was bandaged. I felt out of place.
I started to lead Leo toward the servant’s quarters.
“Emily,” Luca called out.
I stopped and turned.
He walked across the marble foyer and stopped right in front of me.
“Where are you going?” he asked softly.
“To my room, sir,” I rasped.
“You don’t work here anymore,” Luca said.
My heart dropped. Even after everything, was he letting me go?
Before I could panic, he reached out and gently touched my chin, carefully avoiding the bruise on my neck.
“You’re family, Emily,” he said, his dark eyes locking onto mine. “You and Leo. You belong here. Not in the servant’s quarters. In the main house.”
Leo yawned, rubbing his eyes.
Luca smiled, effortlessly picking my six-year-old son up into his arms. Leo rested his head on Luca’s broad shoulder, instantly feeling safe.
“Come on,” Luca whispered to me. “Let’s get him to bed.”
As we walked up the grand staircase together, a profound sense of peace washed over me.
The nightmare was over.
Vanessa was in police custody. Her father was on the run from the FBI. My mother had her dignity and her rightful fortune restored. Daniel finally had his real brother back.
And for the first time in my life, I didn’t have to worry about rent, or medical bills, or cruel bosses.
May you like
I was safe. We were home.
But as I pulled down the blankets in the luxurious guest room for Leo, a small piece of folded paper slipped out of Leo’s pocket.
