Chapter 5 - THE DIAMOND BRACELET IN MY LOCKER|
At eight the next morning, someone knocked on the small bedroom door where I slept in the servants' wing.
I had barely closed my eyes after everything that happened.
When I opened the door, Marco Ruiz stood in the hallway.
His expression told me something was wrong.
"Claire, Mr. Moretti needs you downstairs."
"What happened?"
"Mrs. Moretti says something valuable is missing."
My stomach tightened.
I remembered Vanessa's threat from the night before.
Tomorrow morning, everyone in this house will find out what kind of girl you really are.
I dressed quickly and followed Marco downstairs.
The entire household staff had gathered near the kitchen.
Vanessa stood beside Luca, holding an empty red jewelry box.
Her face was carefully arranged into an expression of distress.
"My grandmother's diamond bracelet is gone," she announced.
"It was worth nearly two hundred thousand dollars."
Luca looked exhausted.
"When did you last see it?"
"Last night, before I changed out of my wedding gown."
"Who had access to your dressing room?"
Vanessa turned slowly toward me.
"Claire did."
My heart began pounding.
"Mrs. Moretti, I wasn't in your dressing room last night."
Vanessa raised an eyebrow.
"Are you calling me a liar?"
"I'm telling you where I was."
She smiled.
"Then you won't mind if we check your locker."
Every face turned toward me.
For a moment, I couldn't breathe.
I had spent five years working in that mansion.
Five years polishing silver, preparing guest rooms, remembering birthdays, and treating every belonging as though it were my own responsibility.
I had never stolen anything.
Not once.
But I knew how easily a wealthy woman's accusation could destroy a housemaid's reputation.
Luca approached me.
"Claire, I want you to understand that you don't have to agree to an unreasonable search."
I looked at him.
"Sir, if someone put something in my locker, I want everyone to see it."
Vanessa's smile widened.
We walked to the staff changing room.
Marco opened the locker only after I gave permission.
Inside were my spare uniform, a pair of worn sneakers, a photograph of my mother, and a small bag containing my lunch.
Then Marco lifted my folded sweater.
A red velvet pouch fell onto the floor.
Vanessa gasped dramatically.
"There!"
Marco opened it.
A diamond bracelet glittered beneath the fluorescent lights.
The room went completely silent.
Vanessa turned toward Luca.
"I told you."
Then she looked at me with triumph in her eyes.
"Imagine stealing from the family that feeds you."
I stared at the bracelet.
"I've never seen that before."
Vanessa laughed.
"Of course you haven't."
"You probably planned to sell it before anyone noticed."
My throat tightened.
"Someone planted it."
"That's what thieves always say."
Luca raised one hand.
"Enough."
Vanessa stared at him.
"You're defending her?"
"I'm asking why you're so certain she's guilty before anyone has investigated."
"Because the bracelet was in her locker!"
"And the locker isn't guarded."
Marco examined the lock.
"Several staff members have access to replacement keys."
Vanessa crossed her arms.
"Are we seriously going to spend the morning inventing excuses for a maid?"
I felt tears burning behind my eyes.
But I refused to let them fall.
Then a quiet voice interrupted us.
"Because Claire isn't a thief."
Gianna stood in the doorway.
She wore her faded blue dress.
Her silver hair was neatly pinned, and her old handbag hung from one arm.
Vanessa rolled her eyes.
"Oh, wonderful."
"Now we have another witness who doesn't know what she's talking about."
Gianna ignored her.
She approached me and took my trembling hand.
"Claire stayed beside me almost all night."
"She brought me tea when I couldn't sleep."
"She helped me breathe when I thought I was going to panic."
"That girl didn't abandon an old woman when everyone else was celebrating."
Vanessa laughed coldly.
"Being kind doesn't mean being honest."
Gianna looked directly at her.
"And wearing diamonds doesn't mean being decent."
Nobody spoke.
Then Marco's phone vibrated.
He stepped aside to answer.
A moment later, he returned.
"Sir, there's a problem with the security footage."
Luca frowned.
"What problem?"
"The hallway camera outside the staff lockers went offline for seventeen minutes this morning."
Vanessa's expression changed.
Marco continued.
"The outage began at five forty-two."
"Someone manually disconnected the power from the maintenance panel."
Luca looked toward the bracelet.
"Convenient."
Vanessa immediately protested.
"Are you suggesting I disconnected a camera?"
"I'm suggesting someone wanted the locker room unwatched."
Marco checked another message.
"The service entrance camera was still running."
"It shows Celia Finch, Mrs. Moretti's wedding coordinator, entering the staff corridor at five forty-six."
Vanessa went pale.
"Celia was collecting decorations."
"From the servants' changing room?" Luca asked.
"She must have taken the wrong hallway."
Marco looked at his phone again.
"Then she carried a red jewelry bag into the corridor by mistake."
I finally understood.
Vanessa hadn't merely threatened me.
She'd prepared a way to make me look like a criminal.
Luca turned to Marco.
"Preserve the footage and the maintenance records."
"Get an independent investigator to review everything."
Then he looked at Vanessa.
"Until we have evidence, you will not accuse Claire again."
Vanessa's face twisted.
"You are choosing a servant over your wife."
Luca's voice was quiet.
"I'm choosing evidence over an accusation."
For one brief moment, I felt safe.
Then Gianna swayed beside me.
Her hand slipped from mine.
"Mrs. Gianna?"
She pressed one hand against her chest.
"Claire, I don't feel very well."
Her knees buckled.
Luca caught her before she hit the floor.
"Auntie!"
Her face had turned frighteningly pale.
Marco immediately called an ambulance.
I knelt beside her while Luca held her in his arms.
"Stay with us," I whispered.
Gianna opened her eyes.
"Don't let her take my house."
Luca pressed his forehead against hers.
"I promise."
Twenty minutes later, we were following the ambulance toward the hospital.
I sat in the back of the SUV, staring at the sunlight spreading over Chicago.
All I could think about was how a beautiful wedding had become a nightmare.
When we arrived, a nurse hurried toward Luca with a clipboard.
"Mr. Moretti, we're having a problem with your aunt's records."
"What kind of problem?"
The nurse looked uncomfortable.
"According to a document recently submitted to our system, your aunt is no longer authorized to make certain medical decisions independently."
Luca froze.
"Who submitted that document?"
The nurse turned the clipboard toward him.
I saw a familiar name.
Vanessa Moretti.
May you like
And beneath it were the words that made my hands go cold.
CLAIMED LEGAL REPRESENTATIVE.
