Chapter 9
The forensic team recovered a second file from Luca’s cloud account.
Title:
HOUSEHOLD STABILITY — PRE-WEDDING
It was not a formal plan.
More like notes.
Some harmless.
Others disturbing.
Reduce child-driven schedule changes.
Stop memorial object escalation.
Separate comfort from executive interruption.
Selena must hold limits without appealing to D.
D cannot reward every emotional reaction.
Then:
Birthday = useful milestone.
Rebecca stared at it.
“What milestone?”
Donato already suspected.
More records answered.
Selena had asked staff to remove several Isabella-related objects from Ava’s room after the birthday.
Not before.
After.
The wedding was eleven weeks away.
According to Selena’s instructions, Ava’s third birthday marked the beginning of a “new family phase.”
A new portrait session was scheduled.
The old nursery photographs would be archived.
The blue blanket would be boxed.
Isabella’s jewelry would be stored until Ava was “old enough to understand it without emotional dependency.”
Donato read the sentence twice.
“Who decided when she’s old enough?”
“No one with authority.”
The gift changed everything.
Donato had unknowingly disrupted Selena’s timeline by giving Ava one of Isabella’s most personal belongings at exactly the moment Selena planned to remove the rest.
That explained why Selena wanted to know what was inside.
Why she recognized the jeweler.
Why the gift table moved near the pool.
Still, Rebecca cautioned him.
“We can prove she knew the gift was probably connected to Isabella.”
“Yes.”
“We can prove she wanted Isabella’s keepsakes removed after the birthday.”
“Yes.”
“We can prove Luca called the birthday a useful milestone.”
“Yes.”
“We cannot yet prove they planned to throw the gift in the pool.”
Donato nodded.
Then another witness appeared.
A poolhouse attendant named Caleb Frost.
He remembered overhearing Selena and Luca thirty minutes before the party.
Selena was angry.
“She said, ‘He ruined it.’”
“What did Luca say?”
“Something like, ‘Then make the point without making a scene.’”
“Did you know what they were talking about?”
“No.”
Caleb remembered Selena gesturing toward the gift table.
Then toward Ava.
Luca responded:
“She has to stop believing every piece of the old life outranks you.”
Donato closed his eyes.
That was not yet a confession.
But the shape of the plan was almost complete.
May you like
The birthday gift was not valuable because Selena wanted it.
It was valuable because she wanted Ava to lose it.
