Chapter 2 - The Poisoned Toast
Panic erupted across the Moretti estate.
"POISON!" someone shrieked.
Aleandro’s armed guards instantly drew their weapons, sealing every exit. The orchestra stopped abruptly as guests scrambled away from the twitching body of Valentina Romano.
Aleandro was at Valentina’s side in a fraction of a second. He checked her pulse, his face turning to stone. "She’s dead," he announced coldly.
"Look!" Valentina’s personal bodyguard shouted, pointing a trembling finger at Sophia. "The maid! She was standing right next to Miss Romano when she took the drink!"
"I didn't touch her glass!" Sophia cried, pulling Emma behind her back defensively. "I didn't even touch mine!"
A tall, sharp-featured man stepped out from the shadows of the VIP section. It was Dominick Romano, Valentina’s older brother and the hot-tempered second-in-command of the Romano family.
"You murderous little rat!" Dominick roared, drawing his pistol and pointing it directly at Sophia's head. "You poisoned my sister because she humiliated you!"
"Dominick, lower the gun," Aleandro’s command was quiet, but it carried enough weight to stop the entire room. He stood up, stepping directly into Dominick’s line of sight.
"She killed my sister in your house, Aleandro!" Dominick snarled, his finger tightening on the trigger.
"And I will find out who gave the order," Aleandro replied, his eyes dark with lethal promise. "If she is guilty, she will face my justice. But no one is executed in my hall without proof."
Aleandro turned to his chief of security, Marco. "Take the maid to the holding cells beneath the west wing. Lock her up. And bring the child to my private quarters."
"No! Don't take my baby!" Sophia screamed as two heavy-set guards grabbed her arms, dragging her away toward the basement.
Emma cried out, reaching her tiny hands toward her mother as Marco gently picked her up. "Mama! Mama!"
Aleandro watched Sophia being dragged away. As she struggled, a silver locket slipped from beneath her uniform collar, bouncing against the stone steps.
May you like
Aleandro walked over, picked up the tarnished silver locket, and opened it.
Inside was a photograph of himself from four years ago—and beside it, a hospital birth certificate bearing the name Emma Moretti.
