Chapter 4 - THE SETUP
Vincent Russo didn't get to be underboss by trusting maids.
He didn't trust Vivian’s plan to force Sophia to make the swap. He knew a mother's desperation made her unpredictable.
The next morning, while Sophia was in the laundry room washing sheets, Vincent slipped into the staff quarters. He bypassed the cheap lock on Sophia's door with a specialized tool.
He found the fake pills in the closet exactly where Sophia had hidden them.
He smiled. The maid was trying to play games.
Vincent didn't just take the fake pills. He went to the west wing, bypassed the security detail with a nod, and walked into Isabella's bathroom. He took the real, life-saving heart medication from her cabinet. He replaced them with the beta-blockers.
Then, he went back to Sophia's room.
He needed a scapegoat. When Isabella collapsed, Lorenzo would tear the house apart looking for who swapped the pills. If the real pills were found in the maid's possession, Lorenzo would execute her himself. The loose end would be tied up by the boss's own hands.
Vincent looked around the room. His eyes landed on a faded pink backpack sitting near the bed. The word EMMA was embroidered on the flap.
Vincent unzipped the bag. He tossed the four bottles of Isabella's real medication inside, burying them beneath some crayons and a cloth rabbit.
He zipped it back up, left the room, and prepared for the show.
The collapse happened at dinner.
That brings us back to the moment the silence shattered the dining hall.
Isabella had been eating when she suddenly gasped, clutching her chest. Her face had gone horribly pale. Lorenzo had shouted for the medic.
In the chaos, Vincent had coldly ordered the guards to search the staff quarters. "Someone tampered with her medication," he had lied smoothly. "Find everything."
A guard had brought back the pink backpack. He dumped it on the marble floor.
The first bottle rolled out and struck the floor with a delicate click.
Then came the second.
Click.
The third.
Then the fourth.
Lorenzo stared at the tiny pink backpack lying open on the floor. Then at the three-year-old girl standing beside it.
Emma Carter stared at the medication as though she had never seen it before.
Sophia was on her knees, begging, pleading for Lorenzo to listen. "Mr. Moretti, please. I swear to you, I never touched those."
Vincent lifted the second bottle. "There's no mistake."
Emma shook her head. "No. Emma no steal Sister's heart."
Isabella tore herself away from the housekeeper, her bare feet slapping against the marble. "She didn't take anything!" She threw both arms around Emma. "She's my sister!"
Lorenzo's eyes narrowed. His daughter was protecting a three-year-old maid's child. And for some reason, that hurt more than the bottles.
He looked at Sophia. The woman was hyperventilating, her eyes darting frantically toward Vivian.
Vivian’s gaze moved toward Sophia. Only for a second. But Sophia saw it. A warning. A silent command. Don't speak.
Sophia swallowed. And said nothing.
Lorenzo misunderstood the silence. He thought it was guilt.
"Take the girls out of here," Lorenzo ordered. His voice was deathly quiet. It was the voice that ordered executions.
The housekeeper scooped up Isabella, who kicked and screamed, reaching out for Emma. "No! Papa, no!"
A guard reached for Emma.
"Don't touch her!" Sophia screamed, scrambling forward and pulling her daughter against her chest. "Don't you touch her!"
Lorenzo stood up. He walked slowly around the table, stopping directly in front of Sophia. He looked down at her, his face an impenetrable mask of rage and betrayal.
"I let you into my home," Lorenzo said softly. "I let your child eat at my table. And you steal the medicine keeping my daughter alive?"
"I didn't do it!" Sophia sobbed. "Lorenzo, please, you have to look at the security cameras! You have to—"
"The cameras in the staff corridor were disabled this morning for maintenance," Vincent interjected smoothly. "Convenient."
Lorenzo’s jaw clenched. He looked at the bottles on the floor. The evidence was absolute.
"Boss," Vincent said, stepping closer. "She's a thief. She probably planned to sell them back to you when the pharmacy couldn't refill them in time. Let me take her out back."
Sophia squeezed her eyes shut, waiting for the bullet. She hugged Emma so tightly the toddler whimpered.
Lorenzo looked at the little girl trembling in her mother's arms. He remembered the grass bracelet. He remembered the laugh.
Never let emotion interfere with evidence.
But the emotion was choking him.
"No," Lorenzo said finally.
Vincent frowned. "Boss?"
"Get them out," Lorenzo growled, turning his back on them. "Pack her things. Throw them out the front gates. If I ever see her face on my property again, I'll kill her myself."
"Lorenzo, please!" Sophia begged as two heavy guards grabbed her arms, dragging her backward. "Isabella's in danger! You have to watch them! You have to watch Vivian!"
"Gag her," Vivian said, stepping forward, her face a mask of faux outrage. "How dare she spout lies after what she's done."
A guard clamped a hand over Sophia's mouth. She kicked and thrashed as she was dragged out of the dining room, Emma crying hysterically in her arms.
The heavy oak doors slammed shut.
Lorenzo stood alone at the head of the table. He looked at the four pill bottles on the floor.
He should have felt vindicated. He had caught the traitor.
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But as he stared at the little pink backpack, a cold, nagging feeling twisted in his gut.
Something was wrong.
