"Seven years ago, there was a dispute between your father and Moretti. Daniel Rossi disappeared from the records shortly afterward."
"He died in a car accident."
"That's what the official report says."
Adrian looked at him.
"Do you believe it?"
Marcus hesitated.
"I believe someone wanted us to stop asking questions."
Adrian stared at the photograph of Daniel.
His father had died three months after the accident.
And in the final weeks of his life, Lorenzo De Luca had become increasingly suspicious of everyone around him.
He had stopped attending public meetings.
He had dismissed two senior advisers.
He had ordered Marcus to destroy several documents.
Marcus had obeyed.
At the time, he believed he was protecting the family.
Now he was no longer certain.
"Did my father leave anything about Daniel?"
Marcus opened another section of the folder.
"One sentence."
"What sentence?"
Marcus read from the page.
'If anything happens to me, the Rossi girl must never be allowed to disappear.'
Adrian went still.
The Rossi girl.
Elena.
He looked toward the study door.
"Who wrote that?"
"Your father."
"When?"
"Three days before he died."
Adrian slowly closed the folder.
For seven years, he had believed his father died because the family had enemies.
He had spent those years eliminating threats, restructuring the empire, and ensuring that nobody could ever put the De Luca name at risk again.
But perhaps he had misunderstood the nature of the threat.
Perhaps the most important piece of his father's final warning had been sitting in his mansion for seven months.
Washing crystal glasses.
Polishing silver.
And apologizing whenever someone treated her like she was worth less than the furniture.
"Marcus."
"Yes?"
"Find out everything about Daniel Rossi."
"Already in progress."
"And find out who sent Elena that message."
Marcus nodded.
Then he hesitated.
"Adrian, there is something I think you should know."
"What?"
"The person who recommended Elena for this position was not an employment agency."
Adrian looked up.
"Who was it?"
Marcus placed a second document on the desk.
A bank transfer record.
The payment had been made from an account connected to the Moretti family's charitable foundation.
The date was seven months earlier.
The same week Elena began working at the estate.
Adrian stared at the document.
"Valentina?"
"Possibly."
"Why would she arrange for Elena to work here?"
Marcus shook his head.
"I don't know."
Adrian stood and walked toward the window.
Below, the gardeners were trimming the hedges.
A delivery truck moved slowly through the courtyard.
Everything appeared ordinary.
But the mansion no longer felt like his.
Someone had brought Elena into his house for a reason.
Someone had wanted her close to him.
And someone had been waiting for something to happen.
"Cancel my meeting with Vittorio," Adrian said.
Marcus raised an eyebrow.
"That will offend him."
"Good."
"What should I tell him?"
Adrian looked out over the garden.
"Tell him I have questions about Daniel Rossi."
Marcus understood.
And for the first time that morning, the older man looked genuinely concerned.
"That will change everything."
Adrian's voice was almost a whisper.
"Then perhaps everything needs to change."
***
At the other end of the mansion, Elena was cleaning the silverware when Sofia approached her.
"You've been called upstairs."
Elena looked up.
"Again?"
"Mr. De Luca wants you in the library."
"Did he say why?"
"No."
Sofia lowered her voice.
"Be careful."
Elena frowned.
"Why?"
Sofia glanced toward the corridor.
"Miss Moretti is back."
Elena's stomach tightened.
"Here?"
"In the main entrance. She arrived twenty minutes ago."
Elena placed the silver spoon on the cloth.
"Perhaps I should wait."
Sofia shook her head.
"Mr. De Luca specifically asked for you."
Elena wiped her hands.
Then she walked toward the library.
The room was on the ground floor, beyond the main staircase. It contained thousands of books, old family portraits, and a large desk made of dark walnut.
When Elena entered, Valentina was standing near the fireplace.
She was no longer wearing last night's champagne gown.
Today, she wore a cream-colored suit, diamond earrings, and a pair of sunglasses resting on top of her head.
Adrian stood behind his desk.
Marcus was nowhere to be seen.
"Elena," he said.
"Sir."
"Come in."
She stepped forward.
Valentina turned toward her.
"Well, look who it is."
Elena lowered her eyes.
Adrian's voice interrupted.
"Valentina, I asked you to wait."
"And I have been waiting."
She looked at Elena.
"Apparently, some people receive special treatment now."
Adrian ignored the remark.
"Elena, I want you to answer one question."
"Yes, sir."
"Have you ever spoken to Valentina before you began working here?"
Elena looked at the woman.
"No."
"Have you ever received money from her?"
"No."
Valentina laughed.
"Of course she hasn't."
Adrian looked at her.
"Then perhaps you can explain why your family's foundation paid the agency that supposedly arranged her employment."
Valentina's expression changed.
Only slightly.
But enough.
"What?"
"The agency that recruited Elena."
"I don't know anything about that."
"Your family's foundation paid it."
Valentina folded her arms.
"My father supports dozens of employment initiatives."
"Interesting."
Adrian opened the folder.
"Because the agency had already been dissolved."
Valentina's face became colder.
"Are you accusing me of something?"
"I'm asking questions."
"About a servant?"
"About a woman whose father worked for my family."
For the first time, Valentina looked directly at Elena with something resembling genuine interest.
"Her father?"
Adrian watched her.
"Daniel Rossi."
The silence was immediate.
Valentina's lips parted.
Then she recovered.
"I don't know that name."
Elena stared at her.
"You knew my father?"
Valentina turned.
"Don't interrupt."
Adrian's voice became sharp.
"She asked you a question."
Valentina looked irritated.
"I don't know her father."
Elena stepped forward.
"Then why did your foundation pay the agency that brought me here?"
Valentina's eyes narrowed.
"Careful, girl."
Elena's hands trembled.
But she did not lower her head.
"I have been careful for seven months."
Adrian watched her.
For the first time, he saw something beneath her quietness.
Not weakness.
Anger.
A deeply buried anger that had survived years of grief and humiliation.
Valentina moved toward her.
"You should remember your position."
Elena looked at her.
"I do."
"Then behave accordingly."
Adrian stepped between them.
"Enough."