Chapter 4
The anonymous emails had been sent through privacy services that offered no easy identifying information.
Julia did not promise miracles.
“We follow what exists.”
The photographs offered more.
Several had been taken from angles only available inside the Bellucci estate.
One came from the upper garage walkway.
Another from the servants’ corridor.
A third from behind a decorative screen near the breakfast room.
Whoever took them either lived in the house, worked there, or had access through someone who did.
Staff interviews began.
No group questioning.
Nobody was threatened.
Carmine made that explicit.
“If anyone intimidates an employee over this, they leave the estate.”
His uncle stared at him.
“Even family?”
“Especially family.”
Three photographs were quickly traced to employees who admitted taking them.
All three gave the same explanation.
Helena asked.
She told one maid the pictures were for Leo’s “progress album.”
She told a bodyguard Carmine wanted proof that the boy was learning discipline.
She told a kitchen employee Claire had accused the estate staff of lying and Helena needed records.
Each person heard a different explanation.
Nobody saw the complete pattern.
Then Julia found something stranger.
Several photos had timestamps minutes before Leo was scheduled to be changed, fed, or driven to Claire’s house.
The camera captured the worst moment.
Not the resolution afterward.
One afternoon Leo had spilled juice.
Helena made him remain in the stained shirt for almost two hours before allowing the nanny to change him.
A picture was taken halfway through.
Another day Leo fell asleep after skipping his nap.
Helena moved him from the playroom to a service bench because, according to staff, “he needed to learn not to collapse wherever he wanted.”
A photograph followed.
The incidents were real.
The framing was manufactured.
Claire looked at Carmine after Julia explained.
“Someone wanted me to see him like this.”
“Yes.”
“And you still think this is just Helena being cruel?”
“No.”
Carmine had stopped thinking that two days ago.
The question now was why.
That evening, his chief financial officer reminded him about something unrelated.
Carmine’s restructuring plan was scheduled for final approval in six weeks.
If adopted, Helena would lose authority over two Bellucci-controlled companies she had supervised for nearly fifteen years.
She had no ownership stake large enough to stop it.
But she had influence.
Prestige.
A permanent seat at every important family meeting.
And she had told Carmine more than once that becoming a father had made him “sentimental.”
May you like
Carmine remembered laughing.
Now the word sounded different.
