Chapter 2 - THE COLD INTERROGATION
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The temperature inside the grand living room dropped below freezing the moment Sophia spoke.
Luca stood utterly motionless, his dark eyes locked onto his trembling wife.
For three agonizing seconds, the only sound was the crackle of burning oak in the fireplace.
The Chicago rain continued to hammer against the tall arched windows like bullets.
Vanessa swallowed hard, her manicured fingers clutching her silk designer robe.
"Luca, you cannot possibly believe the wild imagination of a traumatized child," she stammered.
"Traumatized?" Luca's voice was dangerously low, carrying the rumble of an impending earthquake.
He took one slow, deliberate step toward the bottom of the curved marble staircase.
"The principal called me directly, Vanessa."
"The principal is mistaken, darling! He always exaggerates small schoolyard incidents!"
"He saw you take her shoes with his own eyes," Luca said, his voice terrifyingly calm.
I stood beside the grandfather clock, holding Sophia tightly against my chest.
The poor little girl buried her wet face into the crook of my neck, weeping softly.
Her tiny toes were swollen, bleeding from jagged asphalt cuts, and coated in filthy street grime.
"Claire," Luca commanded without taking his eyes off his wife.
"Yes, Mr. Moretti?" I answered, my heart racing against my ribs.
"Take Sophia into the kitchen immediately, wrap her in dry cashmere, and clean every scratch."
"Right away, sir," I whispered, turning toward the arched hallway.
"No, wait!" Vanessa shrieked from the landing above. "You are not going to dismiss me like a servant in my own house!"
Luca stopped in his tracks, his broad shoulders tensing beneath his bespoke black suit jacket.
When he turned around, the lethal aura that made seasoned mobsters crumble filled the room.
"This is my house," Luca said, each syllable carved from jagged granite.
"And Sophia is my flesh and blood."
"I am your lawful wife!" Vanessa cried out, her polished mask cracking into genuine panic.
"You married me to unite the families and bring stability to this estate!"
"I married you because I foolishly believed you could give my grieving daughter a mother's gentle touch," he replied.
"She is an undisciplined brat who refuses to let go of the past!" Vanessa shouted hysterically.
Luca reached inside his coat, pulled out his phone, and dialed a single digit on speed dial.
"Matteo," Luca spoke into the receiver, his voice chilling the air.
"Lock down every single exit of the manor."
"Post armed guards at every gate, the perimeter fences, and outside every upstairs window."
"Nobody leaves this property alive without my personal signature."
Vanessa gasped, clutching the mahogany banister until her knuckles turned white.
"Luca, what are you doing? Have you lost your mind?"
"And Matteo," Luca continued coldly into the phone, ignoring her screams.
"Bring our personal physician to the kitchen within ten minutes to treat my daughter."
"Then summon the security team to extract the full surveillance archives from St. Catherine's Academy."
Luca ended the call and tossed the phone onto the velvet sofa.
He looked up at Vanessa with eyes devoid of any human warmth.
"A stranger followed my nine-year-old daughter in a gray sedan because you gave him her shoes."
"That makes you an accomplice to an attempted kidnapping."
"I don't know who was in that car!" Vanessa shrieked, backing away into the shadows of the upper corridor.
"You are going to sit in that chair and wait until my men pull the video footage," Luca ordered.
May you like
"If that footage proves you put Sophia in the crosshairs of my enemies, God Himself will not be able to save you from my justice."
I carried Sophia down the hallway toward the kitchen, my tears finally spilling over as the storm raged outside.
