Chapter 3 - The Woman in the Locked Room
Giovanni didn't sleep.
Neither did Isadora.
By sunrise, they were inside a hidden room beneath La Corona.
On the table were photographs, bank statements, property deeds, police reports, and old Rossi family documents.
Isadora stared at the photograph of her mother.
“She has been alive all these years.”
Gio nodded.
“And someone wanted you to believe otherwise.”
“Your family.”
“Yes.”
She looked at him.
“You're part of that family.”
“I know.”
“Then why should I trust you?”
Gio met her eyes.
“You shouldn't.”
It was the first honest answer she'd heard from him.
“I've spent my entire life believing my father was a powerful but honorable man.”
“And now?”
“Now I know he was afraid of something.”
Isadora opened one of the folders.
Inside was a contract.
Her name appeared on the final page.
She frowned.
“I never signed this.”
Gio looked over.
“What is it?”
“A transfer agreement.”
“For what?”
She pointed.
A property.
A coastal villa.
Her mother's villa.
The document claimed Isadora had voluntarily transferred ownership to a Rossi company when she was nineteen.
She stared at the signature.
It looked like hers.
But it wasn't.
“My signature was forged.”
Gio's eyes darkened.
“Who witnessed it?”
She turned the page.
There was only one name.
Margaretta Rossi.
Giovanni's mother.
Isadora looked up.
“Your mother.”
“Yes.”
“She stole my mother's house.”
“And possibly much more.”
Suddenly Luca entered.
“Boss.”
Gio turned.
“What?”
“We found the car.”
“Whose?”
“The car that followed Isadora last night.”
He placed a photograph on the table.
The license plate belonged to a private security company.
Gio recognized it.
His expression changed.
“That's my mother's security company.”
Isadora stared at him.
“So your family has been watching me.”
Gio didn't deny it.
“How long?”
“Six months.”
Her voice became cold.
“Since I started working here.”
“Yes.”
“You knew who I was.”
“Yes.”
“And you let me serve you.”
“Yes.”
She slapped him.
The room went silent.
Gio didn't move.
“You humiliated me,” she whispered.
“I know.”
“You watched me struggle.”
“I know.”
“You knew I was investigating your father.”
“I suspected.”
“And you did nothing.”
Gio looked at her.
“Because I was investigating you too.”
“Why?”
“Because three women connected to my father's death have disappeared.”
He stepped closer.
“You were the fourth.”
Isadora's anger faltered.
“What happened to them?”
Gio's voice was barely audible.
“They all carried the same locket.”
He pointed toward her throat.
And for the first time, Isadora understood.
Her mother hadn't given her the locket as a keepsake.
May you like
She had given it to her as a warning.
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