Chapter 6 - THE TRAITOR AT THE DINNER TABLE
The betrayal came from Rinaldi.
The house manager.
The man who had served Lorenzo for twelve years.
Security records showed that Rinaldi had accessed staff schedules shortly before the attempted abduction.
Financial investigators discovered unexplained transfers into an account linked to his family.
When confronted, Rinaldi denied everything.
Until Marco presented the evidence.
Then he broke.
“Vittorio threatened my son.”
Lorenzo stared at him.
“Your son?”
Rinaldi nodded desperately.
“He said he'd destroy his business. Take his house. Everything.”
Lorenzo's expression hardened.
“So you gave him a three-year-old child?”
Rinaldi began crying.
“I didn't think they'd hurt her.”
Lorenzo stood.
“You didn't think.”
He ordered Rinaldi removed from the estate and referred the evidence to the authorities.
Later, Elena found Lorenzo in the garden.
He was standing beneath the fig tree.
The same place Mia had first approached him.
She stopped beside him.
“You look tired.”
He smiled faintly.
“I am.”
Elena hesitated.
“Thank you for protecting us.”
Lorenzo looked at her.
“I promised.”
She shook her head.
“You didn't have to.”
He turned.
“Yes.”
A pause.
“I did.”
Elena looked at him.
“Why?”
Lorenzo stared at the garden.
Then said quietly, “Because I know what happens when someone asks for help and nobody listens.”
Elena's eyes filled.
She stepped closer.
“Lorenzo.”
He looked at her.
For the first time, she used his name without a title.
He didn't correct her.
She touched his hand.
He held it.
Neither spoke.
But something changed between them.
Not because he was powerful.
Not because she needed protection.
May you like
But because they had both spent years carrying grief alone.
And now, for the first time, neither wanted to.
