Chapter 2 - The Threat Hidden Behind the Photograph|
The message on Olivia's phone made my entire body go cold.
Someone had been watching me.
Someone had photographed me outside the servants' entrance and threatened to make me disappear if Olivia exposed Vanessa's betrayal.
For several seconds, I couldn't breathe.
Olivia gripped my wrist, her frightened brown eyes searching my face.
Then she signed three urgent words.
Don't tell him.
I understood why.
Olivia had spent years watching her brother solve problems with anger, power, and men who rarely asked questions.
But this wasn't an ordinary family argument anymore.
Someone was threatening my life.
And the person responsible knew exactly where I worked.
"Claire, what does the message say?"
Luca's voice cut through the silence.
I looked at Olivia.
She shook her head desperately.
Vanessa was still standing beside the dining table, pretending not to understand what was happening.
But I noticed something strange.
Her champagne glass was trembling.
"Claire," Luca repeated, his voice becoming dangerously calm.
"Show me the phone."
Before I could respond, Olivia stepped between us.
Her hands moved rapidly.
If you get angry, they will hurt her.
Luca watched his sister carefully.
He understood enough sign language to recognize the word hurt.
His expression changed immediately.
"Who is going to hurt Claire?"
I finally found my voice.
"Someone sent Miss Olivia a threatening message, sir."
I handed him the phone.
He read it once.
Then he read it again.
For the first time in five years, I saw something unfamiliar in Luca Moretti's face.
Fear.
Not fear for himself.
Fear for someone standing inside his own home.
He turned toward Vanessa.
"Did you know about this?"
Vanessa pressed a hand against her chest.
"Darling, you're not seriously suggesting I would threaten a housemaid?"
"That's not what I asked."
Her smile disappeared.
"Of course I don't know anything about it!"
Luca studied her for several uncomfortable seconds.
Then he turned toward the dining room doors.
"Marcus!"
His head of security appeared almost immediately.
Marcus Bell was a broad-shouldered former police officer who had protected the Moretti family for more than a decade.
"Sir?"
"End the dinner and have the guests escorted home."
"Yes, Mr. Moretti."
"Preserve every security recording from this afternoon, and make sure nobody touches my office."
Vanessa stepped forward.
"Luca, our wedding is tomorrow!"
He didn't even look at her.
"Then you should understand why I need answers tonight."
The guests began leaving in frightened silence.
Within fifteen minutes, the magnificent dining room was almost empty.
Only Luca, Olivia, Vanessa, Marcus, and I remained.
Olivia was still holding my hand.
Luca pulled a chair beside his sister and crouched to meet her eyes.
He slowly signed a question.
Are you safe?
Olivia stared at him.
Then she signed something that broke my heart.
You never asked before.
Luca looked at me for the translation.
I hesitated.
"She says you never asked whether she felt safe before tonight."
His jaw tightened.
Vanessa rolled her eyes.
"Oh, please!"
"Olivia has lived like a princess her entire life."
"Don't confuse luxury with safety," Luca replied.
The room fell silent.
Olivia's eyes filled with tears.
For a moment, I thought Luca might embrace her.
Instead, he lowered his head.
"I'm sorry, Olivia."
I interpreted his apology even though I knew she could read his lips when he faced her clearly.
Then Marcus returned carrying a tablet.
"Sir, there's something unusual in the security records."
He placed the screen on the table.
At 3:17 that afternoon, someone had accessed Luca's private office using an employee identification card.
The card belonged to me.
"That's impossible," I whispered.
Luca looked at me.
"Where were you at three seventeen?"
"With Miss Olivia at her art studio near Lincoln Park."
Olivia immediately nodded.
She pulled out her phone and opened a photograph taken that afternoon.
It showed us standing beside a newly painted mural.
The timestamp read 3:09 p.m.
"We left at almost four," I explained.
Marcus frowned.
"Then somebody copied Claire's access credentials."
Vanessa gave a short laugh.
"Or perhaps Claire returned secretly and invented the whole story."
Olivia's hands moved sharply.
Claire was with me the entire time.
I translated.
Vanessa folded her arms.
"Of course you'll defend your favorite little servant."
Luca stood.
"Her name is Claire."
Something about the way he said it made Vanessa step backward.
Marcus enlarged the security footage.
A woman wearing a black housemaid's uniform entered the restricted hallway.
Her face was hidden beneath the brim of a housekeeping cap.
But her apron looked exactly like mine.
I suddenly remembered something.
My spare uniform had disappeared from the laundry room three days earlier.
When I reported it, Vanessa told me to stop being careless.
"Marcus," I whispered, "someone stole my spare uniform."
His expression darkened.
Luca stared at the screen.
"Then this was planned."
Before anyone could speak, Olivia's phone vibrated again.
Another message had arrived.
This time, the photograph showed Olivia sitting in the dining room only minutes earlier.
Someone had taken it through the garden window.
Beneath the photograph were six words.
Your brother cannot guard every door.
Olivia looked toward the dark windows.
I followed her gaze.
Beyond the glass, a shadow moved between the rosebushes.
"Marcus!" Luca shouted.
But before the security chief reached the doors, a pair of headlights flashed beyond the garden wall.
An engine roared.
Then the vehicle disappeared into the Chicago night.
Luca pulled out his phone and called someone.
"I want every exterior camera checked immediately."
He ended the call and turned toward me.
"Claire, you and Olivia are staying where I can protect you tonight."
I wanted to believe him.
But Olivia was staring at the photograph with an expression I couldn't understand.
Then she signed something slowly.
The person who sent this knows our family.
I translated.
Luca frowned.
"How do you know?"
Olivia enlarged the photograph.
In the corner of the image, reflected against the dining room glass, was a man's hand.
On his finger was a heavy gold ring bearing a carved lion.
Luca recognized it immediately.
I saw the blood drain from his face.
"That's impossible," he whispered.
"Who is it?" I asked.
He looked toward the empty doorway.
"That ring belongs to my cousin Dominic."
Then his phone rang.
The caller ID displayed Dominic Moretti.
Luca answered without speaking.
A man's voice came through the speaker.
"Don't trust the people inside your house, cousin."
May you like
And before Luca could respond, Dominic whispered something that made every muscle in his face tighten.
"Richard Hayes has already started the transfer."
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