Chapter 2 - The Truth Beneath the Floorboards
“Sophia,” I said, stopping a few feet away from her.
She flinched, her eyes darting nervously to the ground. For two years, she had hidden in plain sight under my roof, taking abuse, cleaning up messes, and enduring a silent torment that I—blinded by business meetings, acquisitions, and the endless chessboard of family politics—had completely ignored.
“I am sorry, Mr. Moretti,” she whispered, her voice trembling. “I didn't want to cause trouble. I needed this job. My daughter... she needs a home. When Ms. Romano told me what happened to my husband... when she said I would end up like him if I ever spoke a word... I was too scared to tell you.”
“What happened to your husband, Sophia?” I asked, keeping my voice as gentle as I could manage.
Sophia swallowed hard, a tear finally spilling over her lashes and cutting a clean path down her dust-smudged cheek.
“My husband, David, wasn't an employee of the estate. He was an independent structural engineer,” she began, her hands gripping Emma tighter. “Three years ago, he was hired by your cousin Luca to inspect the foundations of the old Moretti warehouse down by the harbor. David found structural flaws—massive ones. He told Luca that the building was unsafe and needed to be condemned before anyone used it.”
My jaw tightened. “Go on.”
“David came home that night with a briefcase full of notes and bank drafts,” Sophia continued, her breath catching in her throat. “He told me Luca had tried to bribe him to sign off on the safety inspection anyway. David refused. The next night... his car went off the coastal highway. The police called it a tragic accident. But the briefcase was gone. And two days later, Ms. Romano came to my apartment, warning me that if I ever mentioned David’s work or the bribe, my daughter would be next.”
Emma pressed her face deeper into her mother’s skirt, whimpering softly.
A cold, dead fury settled into my stomach. It wasn't the hot, explosive rage of a betrayed lover. It was the calculated, lethal calm of an apex predator realizing his own pack had been infiltrated by parasites.
Luca hadn't just stolen corporate secrets. He had murdered an innocent man, covered it up with the help of the Romanos, and then used Isabella to infiltrate my household to finish draining my empire from the inside out.
“Marco!” I called out without turning around.
My security chief materialized beside me within a second.
“Sir?”
“Get our forensic accountants on the phone right now. I want every ledger, every wire transfer, and every real estate deed associated with Luca Moretti pulled apart down to the last penny since the day he joined the firm,” I ordered, my eyes fixed on the horizon where the sun was beginning to dip behind the tree line. “And check the harbor warehouse. The one David inspected three years ago.”
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Marco’s eyes narrowed with sudden understanding. “You think it’s still standing?”
“I think it’s a monument to my cousin’s greed,” I said quietly. “And it’s time we tore it down.”
