Chapter 2 - The Man Who Came at Night
Emma moved between Sofia and the door.
The handle turned once.
Stopped.
Then turned again.
“Who’s there?”
No answer.
Emma grabbed the metal clipboard from the bedside table.
It was not much of a weapon.
But it was something.
The door opened.
Lorenzo stepped inside.
He took one look at Emma’s stance.
“What happened?”
Emma lowered the clipboard.
Sofia immediately shut her eyes.
“Nothing.”
Lorenzo looked at his daughter.
Then at Emma.
“You’re lying.”
Emma hated that he could see it.
She also hated that Sofia’s warning still echoed in her mind.
He comes when Daddy sleeps.
Emma could tell Lorenzo.
But she had no name.
No proof.
And if Sofia had spent two years frightened into silence, Emma would not betray the first trust she had been given.
“I heard someone outside,” Emma said.
“I was outside.”
“That explains it.”
“No.” Lorenzo stepped closer. “It doesn’t explain why you looked ready to break my skull with office supplies.”
Despite everything, Emma almost smiled.
“Occupational instinct.”
Lorenzo’s eyes moved toward the tablet.
“You received her lab results.”
Emma’s smile disappeared.
He noticed.
“Show me.”
She hesitated.
Then handed him the tablet.
He read the flagged result.
His expression slowly hardened.
“What is this?”
“A neuromuscular suppressant.”
“Is she prescribed it?”
“No.”
“How dangerous?”
“At these levels? Not immediately fatal. But repeated exposure could weaken breathing, impair swallowing, cause extreme fatigue.”
Lorenzo looked toward his daughter.
“Could it make her look sicker than she is?”
“Yes.”
Something frightening entered his face.
“Could someone be poisoning her?”
Emma chose her words carefully.
“I’m saying this substance should not be in her blood.”
Lorenzo pulled out his phone.
Emma grabbed his wrist.
He looked down at her hand.
Then up at her.
“Do not touch me.”
“Then don’t start tearing this house apart.”
His eyes darkened.
“My daughter has poison in her blood.”
“And if someone put it there deliberately, the worst thing you can do is announce that we know.”
That stopped him.
Emma released his wrist.
“Whoever did it may run.”
“Or strike again.”
“Exactly.”
Lorenzo stared at her.
“You’re asking me to do nothing.”
“I’m asking you to pretend we know nothing.”
He looked toward Sofia.
Her eyes remained closed.
But Emma could tell she was listening.
Lorenzo lowered his voice.
“What do you suggest?”
“First, confirm the result with an independent lab.”
“Done.”
“Second, disconnect remote access from every device in this room.”
“Done.”
“Third, nobody administers medication except me.”
His eyebrow lifted.
“You arrived yesterday.”
“And I’m the only person we know didn’t have access before yesterday.”
He considered that.
“Fair.”
“Fourth, don’t tell Dr. Romano.”
That surprised him.
“Why?”
“He dismissed the pump alteration before examining the logs.”
“You think he’s involved?”
“I think we don’t know who is involved.”
Lorenzo nodded slowly.
“Good.”
Emma blinked.
“What?”
“You’re careful.”
“I’m a nurse.”
“No. You’re suspicious.”
“Also useful.”
For the first time, the corner of Lorenzo’s mouth moved.
Almost a smile.
It vanished quickly.
“What about the lullaby?”
Emma sighed.
“We’re back to that?”
“We never left it.”
“My mother taught me.”
“Your mother is dead?”
“Yes.”
“When?”
“Four years ago.”
“Father?”
“Never knew him.”
“Siblings?”
“No.”
“Where were you born?”
“Philadelphia.”
“Your mother?”
“New Jersey.”
“Maiden name?”
Emma stared.
“You are absolutely running a background check on me while we’re standing here, aren’t you?”
“Already running.”
“That is deeply unsettling.”
“It’s keeping my daughter alive.”
Emma could not argue with that.
Lorenzo’s phone vibrated.
He read a message.
His expression changed.
“The independent lab can collect a sample within an hour.”
“Good.”
He walked toward the door.
Emma called after him.
“Mr. Pellegrini.”
He turned.
“Sofia spoke before you came in.”
His entire body went still.
“What did she say?”
Emma looked at the child.
Sofia’s fingers tightened around the stuffed rabbit.
Emma chose carefully.
“She said she was scared.”
“Of what?”
“She didn’t say.”
Lorenzo knew there was more.
Emma saw it in his eyes.
But he nodded.
“Tell me when she does.”
After he left, Emma sat beside Sofia.
The child opened her eyes.
“You didn’t tell.”
“No.”
“Daddy gets angry.”
“Daddy loves you.”
Sofia looked toward the door.
“Daddy scares people.”
“He scares me a little.”
That earned the faintest hint of a smile.
Emma leaned closer.
“But I think there are people who scare your daddy too.”
Sofia’s face changed.
“Doctor.”
Emma’s pulse jumped.
“What doctor?”
Sofia immediately shook her head.
“Sweetheart, you don’t have to—”
“No.”
“All right.”
Emma stopped.
Trust could not be forced.
At 3:06 a.m., a laboratory technician entered under armed escort.
Emma watched every step.
The sample was sealed.
Lorenzo personally carried it away.
By dawn, the estate had transformed.
Nobody was told why.
But security doubled.
Medical staff were quietly restricted.
Dr. Romano complained loudly.
Lorenzo ignored him.
At 7:30 a.m., Emma stepped into the hallway to make coffee.
A tall man in a charcoal suit stood near the surveillance room.
“Ms. Foster.”
She paused.
He appeared late thirties, shaved head, broad shoulders, scar along his jaw.
“Marco?”
He nodded.
Lorenzo’s chief of security.
He handed her a folder.
“Your background check.”
“I didn’t ask for it.”
“Mr. Pellegrini wants you to review something.”
Emma opened it.
Her employment history.
Nursing school.
Old addresses.
Her mother’s death certificate.
Then a photograph.
Emma stopped breathing.
It was an old charity gala photograph dated twenty-nine years earlier.
Her mother stood near the edge of the frame.
Young.
Beautiful.
Beside her was another woman.
Dark-haired.
Elegant.
The caption beneath the photograph read:
Helen Foster and Lucia Bellandi.
Emma looked at Marco.
“Who is Lucia Bellandi?”
Marco’s expression remained unreadable.
“Lorenzo’s mother-in-law.”
Emma stared at him.
“Isabella’s mother?”
“Yes.”
The hallway suddenly felt too narrow.
“My mother knew Isabella’s family.”
“Apparently.”
“How?”
“We’re still finding out.”
Emma looked at the photo again.
Her mother had never mentioned anyone named Bellandi.
Not once.
Marco handed her another page.
A charity foundation roster.
Helen’s name appeared.
So did Lucia’s.
And beside them, a third name.
Isabella Pellegrini.
Emma looked closer.
The date was seventeen years ago.
Emma would have been twelve.
“They all knew each other.”
“Yes.”
“Why would my mother hide that?”
Marco did not answer.
Emma turned the page.
There was a handwritten note scanned from an archived foundation ledger.
Helen—
If anything happens to me, keep the song safe.
—L.
Emma’s skin went cold.
“The song?”
Marco nodded.
“We believe L means Lucia.”
Emma read the sentence again.
Keep the song safe.
Not remember it.
Not sing it.
Keep it safe.
As though the lullaby were more than music.
“What does that mean?”
“We don’t know.”
A voice behind her answered.
“I do.”
Emma turned.
Dr. Romano stood at the end of the hallway.
He was staring at the folder.
His face had gone white.
Marco’s hand moved beneath his jacket.
Romano slowly raised both hands.
“That song was never a lullaby.”
Emma stared.
“What was it?”
Romano opened his mouth.
Before he could answer, an alarm exploded from Sofia’s room.
Emma ran.
She burst through the doorway.
Sofia’s bed was empty.
The oxygen tubing lay across the pillow.
May you like
The IV line had been cut.
And the exterior balcony door stood wide open.
