Chapter 3 - Shadows in the Estate
Adrien stood motionless beside the mahogany desk, the silence in the study heavy and suffocating. The rain lashed against the reinforced glass windows, echoing the storm raging inside his chest.
“Adrien,” Marco whispered, his voice laced with dread. “If the same team that targeted Claire planted this bug, they aren't just spying on your business operations. They’re mapping the interior routines of this house. They’re watching the kids.”
Adrien didn't answer immediately. He picked up the tiny transmitter, holding it between his calloused fingers. His dark eyes burned with an icy, lethal focus.
“They used Elena’s daughter,” Adrien said, his voice dangerously quiet. “They knew Elena cleans the private family wing. They knew the doll would end up near my children.”
“I’ll have Elena brought down to the basement,” Marco said, turning toward the door. “We’ll find out who contacted her.”
“Stop,” Adrien barked.
Marco froze.
“Elena didn't do this,” Adrien said. “If she were involved, she wouldn't have brought her daughter into the nursery tonight. She wouldn't have let Sophie put the doll on Claire’s chair in front of me. She’s an innocent pawn.”
Adrien carefully pushed the tiny transmitter back into the polyester stuffing of the doll, taking a needle and black thread from his desk drawer to restitch the seam exactly as it had been.
“We don't burn the bridge until we see who is walking across it,” Adrien said, knotting the thread with steady hands. “We leave the doll active. We feed them what they want to hear—until I find out who gave the order to kill my wife.”
Ten minutes later, Adrien walked back up the grand staircase, carrying the repaired doll.
When he opened the nursery door, the scene inside made him pause.
The three nannies had cleared out. Elena was sitting on the floor rug, her back resting against the base of Claire’s gray rocking chair. Little Sophie was curled up beside her, fast asleep. Wrapped around Elena’s lap were the triplets. Nora was resting her head against Elena’s arm, Miles was holding onto her sweater, and Theo was sleeping soundly with his small hand tucked into hers.
For eight months, those children had refused to sleep without screaming themselves to exhaustion.
Yet there they were, completely at peace around a woman who earned eighteen dollars an hour cleaning his floors.
Elena looked up, her eyes wide with apprehension as Adrien stepped into the room. She started to shift to stand up, careful not to wake the children.
“Don't move,” Adrien said softly.
He walked over, kneeling on the rug beside her. He held out the doll to Sophie, tucking it gently under the sleeping girl’s arm.
Elena searched his dark face, sensing the shift in the room's atmosphere. “Mr. Moretti... is everything okay? What was wrong with the doll?”
Adrien looked straight into Elena’s hazel eyes. He saw no deceit, no fear of guilt—only the deep, protective concern of a mother.
“Elena,” Adrien said, his voice low and firm. “Starting tonight, you and Sophie are moving out of the staff quarters. You will sleep in the guest suite right across from the nursery.”
Elena blinked, stunned. “Sir? I... I don't understand. My contract—”
“Your contract just changed,” Adrien interrupted calmly. “Someone tried to use your daughter to get to my family. You and Sophie are in danger as long as you are outside my immediate sight.”
Elena’s face drained of color. She pulled Sophie closer to her chest. “In danger? Who?”
“I will handle who,” Adrien said, reaching out to touch his son Theo’s soft hair. “Your only job is to stay inside this house, stay near my children, and trust me. Can you do that, Elena?”
May you like
Elena looked at the formidable Don Moretti—a man feared by the entire city—and realized that beneath his terrifying aura lay a desperate father willing to burn the world to protect his children.
She nodded slowly. “Yes, Mr. Moretti. I can do that.”
