Chapter 7 - VICTORIA MADE HER COUNTERMOVE
Victoria filed first.
Her petition was narrow.
She did not ask for custody changes immediately.
She asked the court to restrict Daniel from allowing Sophie contact with Raffaele, Noah, or Marconi household staff while the engagement-party incident was being reviewed.
Her argument was simple.
Sophie had witnessed violence.
Raffaele was dangerous.
The Marconi environment was inappropriate for a child.
There were facts inside that argument Raffaele could not simply dismiss.
He had used force against Victoria.
Bodyguards had surrounded them.
His reputation was not fictional.
His attorneys warned him that anger would only help her.
So Raffaele did something unfamiliar.
Nothing.
He did not call Victoria.
He did not send anyone to speak to her.
He did not use family connections.
He let Daniel’s attorney answer in court.
Meanwhile, Margaret found something inside a storage cabinet in the guest suite Victoria had used.
A printed staffing proposal.
It was not signed.
It might have meant nothing.
But one line caught her attention:
Post-marriage childcare consolidation: Noah + Margaret — Lake Residence.
Below it:
Main estate nursery conversion after transition.
Margaret brought it directly to Raffaele.
He read it twice.
Victoria had been planning a physical move for Noah.
Not discussing one.
Planning one.
The document was dated three weeks before the engagement party.
His attorney preserved it but cautioned him.
“A proposal isn’t proof you agreed.”
“I didn’t.”
“That helps.”
“Who prepared it?”
“The formatting matches the private household consultant Victoria hired for wedding planning.”
Raffaele remembered approving that consultant to help merge two households.
He had assumed it meant closets, schedules, and staff.
Victoria had apparently been planning something much larger.
The question was why she needed Sophie elevated publicly if Sophie herself was moving to Wisconsin.
May you like
The answer was close.
But they still did not have it.
