Chapter 3 - The Missing Page
“There is no second page.”
Mrs. Caruso spoke toward the locked door.
Nurse Pierce laughed once.
A nervous, breathless sound.
“Yes, there is.”
Elena glanced toward Matteo.
Still asleep.
She lowered her voice.
“Why are you here?”
“Because Halberg is downstairs lying to Lorenzo, and in about five minutes he’s going to make me responsible for everything.”
“Were you responsible?”
Silence.
Then:
“Not for what you think.”
Mrs. Caruso looked at Elena.
“Go away, Pierce.”
“I can prove it.”
“How?”
“The second page.”
Elena approached the door but did not unlock it.
“Where is it?”
“Open the door.”
“No.”
“Elena—”
“If you’re trying to protect Matteo, tell me through the door.”
Pierce stopped.
For several seconds, only the soft mechanical hum of the bottle warmer filled the nursery.
Then she whispered:
“Check the lining of Sofia’s envelope.”
Mrs. Caruso immediately grabbed the ivory envelope Lorenzo had left on the dresser.
She turned it over.
Nothing.
She slipped a finger inside.
The interior was thicker than ordinary paper.
Elena watched her carefully tear one edge.
A second folded sheet slid out.
Mrs. Caruso went white.
Pierce had been telling the truth.
“Read it,” Elena said.
Mrs. Caruso unfolded the page.
Her eyes moved rapidly.
Then stopped.
“What?”
The older woman did not answer.
Elena took the page.
Sofia’s handwriting continued.
If Matteo becomes ill after I am gone, do not automatically trust the person Lorenzo trusts most.
Elena’s heartbeat accelerated.
Below that:
The danger will not come from an enemy outside our gates.
It will come from someone who believes they are protecting the Rossi family.
Elena looked at Mrs. Caruso.
The same thought passed between them.
Every dangerous person in Lorenzo’s life expected enemies.
Nobody expected loyalty to become dangerous.
There was more.
I found records in Lorenzo’s office that frightened me. Money has been moved from the family medical foundation into accounts I do not recognize. When I asked about it, I was told the transfers were for security. They are not.
Elena continued reading.
Dr. Halberg knows part of it.
Marco knows more than he admits.
And someone inside this house knows everything.
A crash echoed downstairs.
Nurse Pierce hit the door softly.
“You need to let me in.”
Mrs. Caruso unlocked it.
Pierce slipped inside.
She was in her early forties, wearing navy scrubs beneath a long gray cardigan.
Her face was pale.
“Lock it.”
Mrs. Caruso did.
Pierce saw the page.
“You found it.”
“How did you know?” Elena asked.
“Sofia told me.”
Mrs. Caruso’s expression hardened.
“When?”
“Four days before she died.”
“And you remained silent for all these months?”
“I was afraid.”
“Of Lorenzo?”
Pierce shook her head.
“Of the person Sofia was afraid of.”
“Who?”
Pierce looked toward the bassinet.
“Not here.”
Elena almost laughed from disbelief.
“Everyone keeps saying that, and meanwhile the person we’re protecting is the one being harmed.”
Pierce flinched.
“You’re right.”
“Then speak.”
Pierce walked toward the window.
“Two months ago, Lorenzo hired me because Matteo had stopped gaining weight. Before that, I worked at St. Vincent’s, where Sofia delivered.”
“You knew her?”
“I was on the postpartum floor.”
Mrs. Caruso moved closer.
“Were you there when she died?”
“Yes.”
“What happened?”
Pierce closed her eyes.
“She deteriorated quickly. Too quickly.”
Elena felt cold.
“Are you saying someone caused it?”
“I’m saying I saw something I should have reported.”
Mrs. Caruso’s voice shook.
“What?”
“Dr. Halberg entering her room shortly before the emergency.”
Elena stared.
“You said downstairs he’s blaming you.”
“He knows I saw him.”
“Why didn’t you tell Lorenzo?”
Pierce gave a broken laugh.
“Because everyone knows what Lorenzo Rossi does to people he believes hurt his family.”
Elena understood.
“Halberg threatened you.”
“Yes.”
“What did he say?”
“That if I talked, he would tell Lorenzo I administered Sofia’s final medication.”
“Did you?”
“I administered what was prescribed.”
“By Halberg?”
Pierce nodded.
Mrs. Caruso sat down heavily.
“My God.”
Pierce continued.
“When Lorenzo hired me for Matteo, I accepted because I thought I could watch him. Protect him.”
“The black marks?” Elena asked.
Pierce’s eyes widened.
“You found those?”
“Yes.”
“I marked bottles whenever Matteo reacted strangely.”
“So you weren’t marking bottles before they were tampered with.”
“No. After.”
Elena exhaled.
That explained everything.
Pierce had been tracking a pattern secretly.
“Why not tell anyone?”
“I needed proof.”
“And did you find it?”
Pierce looked toward the door.
“I found out the formula wasn’t the problem.”
“What was?”
“Some bottles were being stored in the small refrigerator near Lorenzo’s private office before coming upstairs.”
Mrs. Caruso frowned.
“They shouldn’t be.”
“I know.”
“Who took them there?”
“I don’t know. But every time it happened, Matteo refused them.”
Elena thought of the residue.
“Maybe he wasn’t frightened by feeding.”
Pierce shook her head.
“He was. But there was more.”
“What?”
“Babies recognize taste. Smell. Discomfort. If something made him sick repeatedly, he could have begun associating feeding with pain.”
Elena looked at sleeping Matteo.
A terrible possibility became clear.
His fear had saved him.
His refusal to eat may have been the only defense he possessed.
Downstairs, another door slammed.
Pierce jumped.
“We need to get the second page to Lorenzo.”
Mrs. Caruso looked uncertain.
“If Marco is mentioned—”
“Elena said Sofia wrote that Marco knew more than he admitted,” Pierce said. “That doesn’t mean he harmed her.”
“It means we don’t know who to trust.”
Elena took the letter.
“I trust Lorenzo with his son.”
Both women stared at her.
“He nearly pointed a gun at you an hour ago,” Pierce said.
“Yes.”
“And you trust him?”
“With Matteo?”
Elena looked at the baby.
“Yes.”
Because she had seen the moment Lorenzo realized fear surrounded his son.
Because she had seen his gun disappear.
Because she had watched the most feared man in the house obey when a maid told him to sit down so his footsteps would not upset a baby.
A broken man was not automatically a cruel one.
Sometimes he was simply someone who had forgotten any language except control.
Elena went toward the door.
Mrs. Caruso stopped her.
“I’ll go.”
“No.”
“You have Matteo.”
“Exactly.”
She picked him up gently.
“If someone in this house is dangerous, I’m not leaving him behind.”
Pierce stared at her.
“You’re carrying Lorenzo Rossi’s only child into a confrontation?”
“No.”
Elena wrapped Matteo securely against herself.
“I’m carrying a baby to his father.”
They opened the door.
The hallway was empty.
They moved toward the main staircase.
Halfway down, Marco appeared.
“Stop.”
Elena froze.
He looked at Pierce.
“You’re supposed to be in the sitting room.”
Pierce stepped behind Elena.
Marco noticed the paper.
“What are you holding?”
Elena did not answer.
Marco descended two steps.
“Elena.”
She tightened her hold on Matteo.
“Where is Lorenzo?”
“In his study.”
“I need him.”
“Give me the paper.”
“No.”
Marco’s face changed.
“Do you have any idea how dangerous this situation is?”
“Yes.”
“No, you don’t.”
He reached out.
Elena backed away.
Matteo stirred.
“Don’t touch me.”
Marco stopped instantly.
Not because of Elena.
Because of the baby.
“I’m trying to protect him.”
“So am I.”
“Elena, listen to me. Lorenzo is not thinking clearly.”
“His wife died. His child nearly starved. Someone may be poisoning his bottles. How clearly would you be thinking?”
Marco looked toward Pierce.
“You told her.”
“I told her enough.”
“You foolish woman.”
Pierce stiffened.
“You knew Sofia was suspicious.”
Marco’s face went still.
That was all Elena needed.
“You did know.”
He lowered his voice.
“Not here.”
Elena almost laughed.
“Apparently that sentence is carved over the front door.”
Marco glanced down the hall.
Then leaned closer.
“Sofia discovered money missing from the medical foundation. Lorenzo’s uncle was moving it.”
“Which uncle?”
“Vittorio.”
Elena knew the name.
Vittorio Rossi visited twice a week.
Late fifties.
Elegant.
Smiling.
The only person in the mansion who treated Lorenzo as though Lorenzo were still a boy.
“Why steal from a charity?” Pierce asked.
“Because it wasn’t about the money.”
“What was it about?”
Marco looked toward Lorenzo’s study.
“Control.”
Before he could explain, the study door opened.
Lorenzo emerged.
Dr. Halberg walked beside him.
Free.
Elena stared.
Halberg adjusted his coat.
Lorenzo saw Matteo in Elena’s arms.
Then he saw Pierce.
Then the second page.
His expression hardened.
“Where did you get that?”
Elena descended the remaining stairs.
“Sofia hid it inside the envelope.”
Lorenzo took the paper.
He read.
His face changed line by line.
When he reached Marco’s name, he looked up.
Marco did not move.
“Explain.”
“I was going to.”
“When?”
“When I knew who was behind it.”
“Who?”
Marco looked at Halberg.
Halberg immediately shook his head.
“This is absurd.”
Marco ignored him.
“Vittorio.”
Lorenzo’s face went blank.
For the first time, genuine fear entered Marco’s eyes.
“Your uncle has been moving money for years. Sofia found the accounts.”
Lorenzo turned toward Halberg.
“And you?”
Halberg swallowed.
“I treated your wife.”
“That wasn’t the question.”
“I know nothing about financial accounts.”
Lorenzo stepped closer.
“Did Vittorio tell you to hurt my wife?”
“No.”
“Did you alter her treatment?”
“No!”
Matteo began to cry.
Elena stepped away from the men.
“Enough.”
Lorenzo stopped immediately.
He looked at his son.
Then at Halberg.
“Get him out of here.”
Marco grabbed Halberg’s arm.
Halberg panicked.
“Wait.”
Everyone froze.
“I didn’t poison the baby.”
Lorenzo’s eyes narrowed.
Nobody had used the word poison.
Not in front of Halberg.
Marco’s grip tightened.
Halberg realized his mistake.
“I mean—I assumed—”
“You assumed what?” Lorenzo asked.
Halberg looked toward the front hall.
Then toward the stairs.
As if calculating whether he could run.
Lorenzo’s voice dropped.
“What did you put in my son’s bottles?”
“Nothing.”
Marco searched his pockets.
Halberg struggled.
A small silver key fell onto the marble floor.
It spun once.
Stopped.
Mrs. Caruso gasped.
Lorenzo looked down.
The key bore a tiny engraved letter.
S.
Elena recognized it.
So did Mrs. Caruso.
“That opens Sofia’s private desk,” she whispered.
Lorenzo stared at Halberg.
Halberg stopped struggling.
Then the mansion’s alarm began screaming.
A security guard’s voice exploded over Marco’s radio.
“North gate breached. Black sedan coming through.”
Marco grabbed the radio.
“Whose vehicle?”
Static.
Then an answer.
Lorenzo’s face changed before anyone else understood.
Marco looked toward the front windows.
The black sedan stopped outside.
The rear door opened.
May you like
Vittorio Rossi stepped out.
And he was carrying Sofia’s missing medical file.
