Chapter 3 - THE WITNESS IN THE KITCHENI looked up, meeting Luca’s intense gaze. The weight of forty-six pairs of wealthy eyes pressing down on me made my throat tighten, but looking at Lucy gave me the courage I needed.
“It was six months ago, Mr. Moretti,” I said steadily. “Right after Mrs. Bellini moved into the master wing. I was clearing dishes from the back patio when I saw a woman standing near the service gate, crying. She was wearing a plain coat, and she looked so much like Miss Lucy it startled me.”
Luca’s jaw tightened. “Did she speak to you?”
“For a moment,” I nodded. “She asked if Lucy was happy. She called her by name—Elena. Not Lucy. Elena. And before I could ask who she was, Mrs. Bellini walked out of the garden, grabbed the woman by the arm, and called her sister. She shoved her into a black sedan and told her never to come back if she ever wanted to see her child again.”
Gasps rippled through the banquet guests.
Vanessa’s face drained of all color. “It’s a lie! The girl is making up stories to keep her job!”
“I don't lie, Mrs. Bellini,” I said, looking her dead in the eye. “And I certainly didn't lie about you throwing Miss Lucy’s chair across the floor.”
Luca took a slow, deliberate step toward Vanessa. The sheer physical presence of the mafia boss made her stumble back against the mahogany sideboard.
“Her name is Elena?” Luca whispered, the syllables tasting like poison on his tongue. “When we adopted her four years ago from the private agency in Zurich, her paperwork stated her parents were deceased—a tragic accident managed entirely through your family's legal trust, Vanessa.”
Vanessa’s lips parted, but no sound came out.
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Just then, Marcus returned, striding into the ballroom carrying a heavy leather-bound ledger and a secure digital drive. He handed them directly to Luca.
“The archive files from the Zurich adoption trust, Boss,” Marcus reported crisply. “And security camera footage from the eastern service gate dating back six months.”
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