Chapter 6
Vittorio read the first email twice.
The timestamp did not change.
Three days early.
That destroyed every argument about concern.
Bernadette had been building a record.
Maria stood opposite him.
Her breathing had become shallow.
“She was preparing to blame me.”
“Yes.”
Maria looked toward Luca’s empty chair at the breakfast table.
“She told me once that people like me survive by knowing when to leave.”
Vittorio’s head lifted.
“When?”
“Two months ago.”
“What exactly did she say?”
Maria hesitated.
Then repeated it.
Bernadette had offered her six months’ salary to resign quietly.
Maria refused.
The following week, Bernadette began criticizing her caregiving.
Vittorio pressed his lips together.
“Why didn't you tell me?”
Maria looked directly at him.
This time there was no fear in her eyes.
“Because you would've called it family tension.”
The words landed cleanly.
Vittorio looked away.
She was right.
Again.
His power had trained people to measure whether truth was worth bringing him.
That was not control.
It was blindness.
Later, Bernadette denied offering money.
Then Maria produced a bank screenshot.
A payment request.
Not completed.
But sent from Bernadette’s private account manager.
Bernadette’s face hardened.
“You kept that?”
Maria’s hands trembled.
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Maria looked toward Vittorio.
“Because I stopped believing anyone would protect me if this got worse.”
Silence filled the room.
Vittorio felt that more deeply than Bernadette’s insults.
Then Nico entered.
No one had called him.
He looked at the bank screenshot.
Then at Maria.
His jaw tightened.
“Bernadette.”
She turned toward him.
“What?”
Nico’s voice dropped.
“You said she took the money.”
Bernadette went still.
Vittorio’s attention sharpened.
Maria had refused the bribe.
May you like
Bernadette had told Nico she accepted it.
Which meant Nico had been operating under a lie too.
