Chapter 4 - THE WOMAN WHO REFUSED TO BE BOUGHT
Elena returned to the Moretti estate at two in the morning.
She intended to collect her belongings and resign.
Instead, she found Dante waiting in the kitchen.
He stood beside the same sink where he had once almost touched her cheek.
For a moment, neither spoke.
Then Elena said, “I know about the patent.”
Dante's expression tightened.
“So do I.”
“Did you know before tonight?”
“No.”
She studied him.
“Can you prove that?”
He did not appear offended.
“Not with words.”
Elena nodded.
“Then don't ask me to believe you yet.”
Dante stepped aside.
“Fair.”
She moved toward the servants' staircase.
“I'm leaving.”
“I know.”
She stopped.
“You're not going to argue?”
“No.”
“Or offer me more money?”
“No.”
“Or tell me it's safer to stay?”
Dante hesitated.
“I believe you're in danger. But you decide where you live.”
Elena looked at him.
For the first time, she saw something unfamiliar in his face.
Helplessness.
He was a man accustomed to controlling outcomes.
And he had no control over her answer.
She took a breath.
“Vanessa threatened my mother's treatment.”
Dante's jaw tightened.
“Tell me exactly what she said.”
Elena repeated the conversation.
He listened without interrupting.
When she finished, he looked genuinely shaken.
“I'll preserve the estate security footage and give it to your attorney if it captured anything relevant.”
“I don't have an attorney.”
“I can help you find an independent one. Someone who doesn't work for me.”
Elena considered.
Then nodded.
“That would help.”
Dante reached into his pocket.
He withdrew a folded document.
“What is that?”
“A copy of the patent assignment.”
Elena took it.
Her mother's name appeared near the bottom.
The signature looked wrong.
Too neat.
Too deliberate.
Elena remembered her mother's handwriting.
The uneven letters caused by a childhood injury to her right hand.
This signature was smooth.
Almost elegant.
“My mother didn't sign this.”
Dante nodded.
“That's what my attorney suspects.”
Elena looked up.
“Then someone stole her life's work.”
“Yes.”
Her eyes filled.
“And Vanessa knew.”
Dante said nothing.
Elena looked toward the kitchen window.
For years, she had believed her family had simply been unlucky.
Now she understood.
Someone had profited from their suffering.
She folded the document carefully.
Then looked at Dante.
“I want the truth.”
He nodded.
“So do I.”
She met his eyes.
“But I don't want you to rescue me.”
Dante's voice softened.
“Then I won't.”
He paused.
May you like
“I'll help you get the evidence you need.”
For the first time that night, Elena believed he understood the difference.
