Chapter 5 - Why Emma Was Placed in Moretti House

Emma did not sleep.

At four in the morning, she sat alone in the estate kitchen with a cup of coffee she never touched.

Luca found her there.

He had removed his jacket.

The tattoo on his forearm disappeared beneath a rolled charcoal sleeve.

He looked less like the man guests feared and more like someone who had not stopped thinking for twelve hours.

Emma spoke first.

“The voice said I was placed in your house.”

“Yes.”

“I applied for the job myself.”

“I know.”

“Then how could anyone place me here?”

Luca pulled out the chair opposite her.

“Marco checked the hiring file.”

Emma’s stomach tightened.

Her application had been ordinary.

Housekeeping experience.

Alterations work.

References.

Background check.

But one reference had never been called.

Instead, the personnel director had received a recommendation from an outside employment agency.

The agency existed for eleven months.

Then closed.

Its registered attorney was Matteo Bellori.

Emma stared at Luca.

“He arranged my interview?”

“Yes.”

“Why?”

“That is what I’m trying to understand.”

Vittorio entered behind him.

“I can answer part of it.”

Emma’s expression hardened.

“You keep having answers after people suffer.”

The old man accepted that too.

“Bellori needed you close to Moretti property because Elena’s succession rights required identity verification before they could be challenged.”

“What kind of verification?”

“Voice. Signature. Medical information. Proof of residence. Anything they could use to build a fraudulent claim.”

Emma felt cold.

“My employee records.”

“Yes.”

Luca’s eyes sharpened.

“Belini had access to household personnel files.”

Vittorio nodded.

“And once Luca announced the engagement, the timetable changed.”

Emma looked between them.

“Why?”

“The marriage trust.”

If Luca signed Friday, Belini would gain temporary proxy rights over several Moretti holding companies during the merger of their family assets.

Normally, that meant nothing permanent.

But Bellori had inserted a clause allowing emergency litigation against dormant custodial claims.

Emma was the only dormant claimant left.

“So they needed me discredited before Friday.”

“Yes.”

“The dress.”

“Yes.”

Emma pushed her coffee away.

Fourteen months of insults.

Belini’s contempt.

The impossible chores.

The small humiliations in front of guests.

Suddenly they looked different.

“She was preparing people to believe the worst of me.”

Luca’s face hardened.

“That appears to be exactly what she was doing.”

Emma looked at him.

“And you didn’t see it.”

The words were quiet.

They landed anyway.

“No,” Luca said.

He did not defend himself.

Emma looked away.

“My daughter has been in this house.”

Luca immediately understood.

“Sophie.”

“If they were watching me—”

“They were watching her too.”

Emma stood so quickly the chair scraped backward.

Luca was already reaching for his phone.

Marco answered on the first ring.

“Put two people at Sophie’s apartment. Quietly. Nobody approaches her without Emma’s approval.”

He listened.

Then his expression changed.

“What?”

Emma froze.

Luca put the call on speaker.

Marco’s voice filled the kitchen.

“Boss, Sophie isn’t there.”

Emma went white.

“What do you mean?”

“The sitter says a car picked her up twenty minutes ago.”

Emma’s knees nearly gave.

“Who?”

Marco hesitated.

“The sitter thought it was authorized by you.”

“I authorized nothing.”

Luca’s face became terrifyingly calm.

“Vehicle?”

“Black town car. Private plate.”

Vittorio closed his eyes once.

“Bellori.”

Emma grabbed Luca’s sleeve.

“Find her.”

He looked at her.

“I will.”

“No. Don’t say it like a promise. Find my daughter.”

Luca did not blink.

“Marco, shut every airport contact we have. Train stations. Bridges. Tunnels. Bellori does not leave the city.”

Emma’s phone rang.

Unknown number.

Nobody moved.

She answered.

A man spoke.

“Emma Russo?”

Her hand tightened around the phone.

“Yes.”

“Sophie is safe.”

“Let me hear her.”

A pause.

Then a child’s frightened voice.

“Mom?”

Emma stopped breathing.

“Sophie, I’m here.”

The line changed hands.

The man returned.

“Bring Elena’s original agreement to Pier Thirty-Seven at noon.”

Luca held out his hand for the phone.

The caller continued.

“And Luca Moretti comes alone.”

The call ended.

Emma looked at Luca.

He looked at the dark screen.

May you like

[COMPLETED] “GET YOUR HANDS OFF MY DRESS! YOU’RE NOTHING BUT AN OLD SEAM...

[COMPLETED] At the Mafia Boss's Engagement Party, I Served His Hungry So...

[COMPLETED] The Mafia Boss’s Fiancée Tried to Dismiss His Father’s Loyal...

The hidden drive had been a trap.

Now the trap had a child inside it.