Chapter 2
Vittorio returned downstairs alone.
Marcus had freed himself from the broken rack.
Bianca was standing now.
Neither looked helpless anymore.
That was better.
Vittorio preferred enemies who stopped pretending.
He placed Emma’s phone on the dining table and played the final sentence.
“Keep going until she says it.”
Marcus’s jaw moved once.
Bianca’s breathing slowed deliberately.
Vittorio watched both.
“Which one of you wants to lie first?”
Bianca lifted her chin.
“Lucy misunderstood what she saw.”
“She saw Marcus leave Elena’s study.”
“A child saw a door.”
Marcus wiped blood from his lip.
“That's what this is about?”
Vittorio turned toward him.
Marcus smiled again.
The arrogance was back.
“Your daughter sees ghosts because nobody in this house has allowed her mother to die.”
The silence that followed was dangerous.
Bianca knew it.
Her fingers curled around the back of a chair.
Vittorio did not touch Marcus.
That disturbed him more.
“Why were you inside Elena’s study?”
“I wasn't.”
Vittorio took out his phone.
One call.
“Open the blue room.”
Marcus’s smile vanished.
Bianca stepped forward.
“You don't have to do this in front of everyone.”
Vittorio glanced at her.
“You were comfortable putting my daughter on the floor in front of your brother.”
Bianca stopped.
Minutes later, the estate security chief called back.
The blue study showed signs of entry.
The lock was intact.
But the dust along the inside window latch had been disturbed.
Someone had not used the door.
They had entered through the terrace.
Vittorio stared at Marcus.
Marcus said nothing.
Then the security chief added:
“Boss, there's something else.”
Vittorio put the call on speaker.
“The desk drawer was forced.”
His pulse slowed.
“What was inside?”
“We don't know.”
Vittorio did.
Elena had kept a small green velvet case in that drawer.
It contained personal recordings, letters, and the little digital voice recorder she used whenever pain medication made handwriting difficult.
After her death, Vittorio could not bring himself to listen.
So he locked everything away.
“Is the green case there?”
A pause.
“No, sir.”
Marcus looked toward Bianca.
Quick.
Instinctive.
Vittorio caught it.
Bianca caught Vittorio catching it.
The balance of the room shifted again.
Then Emma spoke from the staircase.
“I saw that case.”
Every head turned.
Emma was standing above them, one hand gripping the railing.
Her voice trembled.
“Marcus had it.”
Marcus’s face hardened.
May you like
Emma swallowed.
“And Bianca told him to burn it.”
