Chapter 6
Sofia’s hands healed slowly.
The cracks closed first.
The redness took longer.
She remained in the downtown apartment.
Raffaele visited only when invited.
That was new for him.
The first week, she invited him once.
They ate takeout at a small dining table overlooking the city.
No staff.
No security inside.
No family.
Raffaele realized he had never eaten a meal with his wife in a place where nobody was technically working for him.
Sofia noticed his discomfort.
“You hate this apartment.”
“No.”
“You keep looking for someone to refill your water.”
“I can refill water.”
“Prove it.”
He did.
She laughed despite herself.
It lasted three seconds.
Then the distance returned.
Raffaele told her about the altered messages.
Sofia listened.
“So Delia was lying to both of us.”
“Looks that way.”
“Why?”
“We don’t know.”
Sofia studied him.
“That’s new.”
“What?”
“You admitting you don’t know.”
Raffaele accepted the hit.
Claire’s investigation produced another clue the following morning.
A former family-office assistant named Rachel Ames had left four months earlier.
She remembered Delia asking for a copy of Raffaele’s digital initials and standard household memo format.
“What reason?” Claire asked.
“Event approvals.”
“Did that seem normal?”
“Yes.”
“Did you provide them?”
“Yes.”
Rachel looked increasingly uncomfortable.
“She also asked whether messages inside the estate app could be posted without identifying the administrator.”
“And?”
“Yes.”
“Did you show her how?”
“It wasn’t secret.”
Rachel swallowed.
“Senior family members used the function all the time.”
Third clue.
Delia had deliberately learned how to create instructions that looked as though they came directly from Raffaele.
Rachel also remembered something stranger.
Delia kept a spreadsheet called Household Transition.
Rachel assumed it concerned Sofia moving into the estate after the wedding.
But the document continued being updated months afterward.
“What was in it?”
“I didn’t read most of it.”
“Anything you remember?”
“Dates.”
“What dates?”
“Council meetings. Family dinners. Travel.”
Rachel paused.
“And arguments.”
Claire frowned.
“Whose arguments?”
“Raffaele and Sofia.”
The spreadsheet had been deleted after Rachel resigned.
The forensic team began trying to recover backups.
Raffaele heard and felt cold.
May you like
Delia had not simply reacted to conflict between husband and wife.
She had been tracking it.
