Chương 4
Domenico looked at him.
“I think people make choices.”
The words bothered Marcus more than an accusation would have.
He looked down at the floor.
For a moment, he looked less like an enemy and more like someone who had convinced himself he had no other option.
Valentina stepped between them.
“This is becoming dramatic.”
Domenico stared at her.
“Ruby was moved out of her room.”
“She was being taught responsibility.”
“She is five.”
“She is spoiled.”
Domenico’s expression changed.
Not because he was surprised.
Because he was disappointed.
“You actually believe that.”
Valentina looked away.
That second of hesitation told him more than her answer could.
She believed something else.
She just did not want to say it.
“Where were you planning to put her?”
Valentina did not respond.
“Where?”
“The storage room was temporary.”
Domenico felt his stomach tighten.
Temporary.
Another harmless word.
Another word people used when they wanted permission to hurt someone without admitting it.
“You were going to make my daughter sleep in a storage room.”
“She has everything she needs.”
“No.”
His voice became quieter.
“That is the problem.”
Valentina looked at him.
“You have always been like this.”
“Like what?”
“You think love fixes everything.”
Domenico did not answer.
Because a part of him wondered if she was right about one thing.
He had believed that protecting Ruby meant giving her a beautiful home, good schools, safe clothes, and every opportunity he never had.
He had forgotten that children did not measure safety by expensive things.
They measured it by who stayed.
Valentina noticed his silence.
She mistook it for weakness.
“You leave for days.”
The accusation came quickly.
“You build businesses, solve other people’s problems, travel whenever you want, and then you come back pretending you understand everything happening here.”
The words hurt because there was truth mixed inside them.
Domenico had spent years building a life after losing Ruby’s mother.
Work had become easier than grief.
Meetings were easier than memories.
Numbers were easier than emotions.
But he looked toward the staircase where his daughter had disappeared.
“I made mistakes.”
Valentina blinked.
She had expected anger.
Not honesty.
Domenico continued.
“But Ruby did not make them.”
The kitchen became quiet.
Marcus looked between them.
For the first time, he seemed unsure who he was supposed to support.
A phone vibrated on the counter.
Valentina reached for it immediately.
Domenico saw the screen light up.
He only saw the first line of the message before she turned it away.
Someone named Daniel had written.
Need to talk before he finds the papers.
Domenico’s eyes narrowed.
Valentina noticed.
“You saw nothing.”
“I saw enough.”
She grabbed the phone.
“You always assume the worst.”
“No.”
He stepped closer.
“I assume people hide things when they are caught hiding things.”
Valentina locked the screen.
“Leave it alone.”
That answer confirmed there was something worth finding.
Domenico walked out of the kitchen before his anger could make the decision for him.
He went back upstairs.
Ruby was sitting on the edge of her bed with Elena beside her.
The housekeeper had found Ruby’s stuffed rabbit and placed it back in her arms.
Domenico sat beside his daughter.
“You should sleep.”
Ruby shook her head.
“I don’t want to.”
“Why?”
She looked toward the open doorway.
“Because when I wake up, maybe my room will be gone.”
The sentence stayed with him.
A child should not have to wonder whether her own room would exist in the morning.
Domenico looked around the bedroom.
He noticed something he had missed before.
The walls were covered with drawings.
Most were ordinary.
A house.
A sun.
A family.
But one drawing caught his attention.
It showed three people standing together.
Ruby.
Domenico.
And another figure with long dark hair.
Her mother.
The picture was old.
The colors had faded.
Ruby noticed him looking.
“Mommy said this was our house.”
Domenico swallowed.
“She did?”
Ruby nodded.
“Before she got sick.”
The room became heavier.
Ruby touched the corner of the paper.
“She said houses are not walls.”
Domenico looked at her.
“What are they?”
Ruby thought carefully.
“Where people know you belong.”
He looked away for a moment.
He needed that second.
Not because he was going to cry.
Because he refused to let Ruby see how deeply the sentence affected him.
Elena quietly left the room.
Domenico stayed with his daughter until her breathing slowed.
Only after she fell asleep did he return to the security room.
He searched through older footage.
Not because he expected to find something.
Because people who lied usually left traces in places they forgot existed.
The first thing he found was the dining room chair.
A week earlier, two workers had moved it from the dining area.
The order came from Valentina.
The reason listed in the system was renovation.
There had been no renovation.
He checked maintenance requests.
Nothing.
He searched again.
Another entry appeared.
A private delivery.
A storage company.
The delivery address was not the mansion.
Domenico stared at the screen.
The chair had been removed from the house.
But that was not all.
The delivery date was the same day Ruby’s bedroom items had started disappearing.
He printed the record.
The paper felt strangely heavy in his hand.
Not because it was important.
Because it was proof that someone had been slowly removing his daughter from her own home.
A noise behind him made him turn.
Marcus stood in the doorway.
He looked exhausted.
Not angry.
Exhausted.
“You need to stop digging.”
Domenico held up the paper.
“Why?”
Marcus hesitated.
“Because you don’t know what you’re going to find.”
Domenico studied him.
“That sounds like a warning.”
“It is.”
“From who?”
Marcus looked toward the hallway.
“From someone who knows how far Valentina will go when she thinks she is losing control.”
Domenico folded the paper.
“Then tell me.”
Marcus rubbed his face.
“I can’t.”
“Can’t or won’t?”
Marcus stayed silent.
That was the answer.
May you like
Domenico walked closer.
“You helped her hurt my daughter.”
