Chương 2
He had never imagined it could become the place where his daughter was trapped.
The lock resisted at first.
Leo turned the key harder.
The mechanism finally gave.
Cold air pushed upward from the darkness below.
Beatrice covered her mouth.
Leo opened the door.
The staircase descended into blackness.
“Lily?” he called.
No answer.
Only the faint sound of something scraping against stone.
He went down.
The old steps were narrow and uneven.
His hand moved along the wall for balance as he descended.
The expensive shoes he wore every day for business meetings slipped slightly against the damp stone.
At the bottom, he saw her.
For one terrible second, the world stopped.
Lily was curled against the wall with her stuffed rabbit pressed against her chest.
Her small body looked impossibly fragile in the empty cellar.
Her dark hair covered part of her face.
Her breathing was shallow.
“Lily.”
Leo dropped to his knees.
“Princess.”
Her eyes opened slightly.
She did not seem to recognize him at first.
Then her fingers moved.
“Papa?”
The sound nearly broke him.
“I’m here.”
He lifted her carefully.
“Papa’s here.”
Her body trembled against his coat.
“I was waiting,” she whispered.
Leo closed his eyes.
“I know.”
He wanted to ask how long.
He wanted to ask why.
He wanted to ask a hundred questions that had no place in that moment.
Instead, he held his daughter tighter.
Beatrice came down the stairs behind him.
Nobody told her to stay upstairs.
Nobody told her she was too injured.
She moved because Lily needed her.
When she reached the floor, she placed a shaking hand against Lily’s back.
“Hey, sweetheart,” she whispered.
“Look at me.”
Lily’s eyes found hers.
“Bee.”
“I’m right here.”
The sound of running footsteps came from above.
Mateo appeared at the stairs holding the pink inhaler case.
“I found it.”
His voice was controlled, but his face was not.
He had seen enough.
Beatrice opened the case with trembling fingers.
“Come on, baby.”
She placed the inhaler in Lily’s hand.
“Breathe for me.”
The first attempt was weak.
Leo watched his daughter struggle and felt every instinct inside him fight against the helplessness of the moment.
He was a man who solved problems.
He paid experts.
He built companies.
He made impossible negotiations happen.
None of that mattered here.
The only thing that mattered was whether his little girl could take another breath.
“Again,” Beatrice whispered.
Lily tried.
The second breath came easier.
Then she coughed.
A small, painful sound.
But it was a sound.
Her eyes opened wider.
Leo pressed his forehead against hers.
“There you are.”
Above them, somewhere near the entrance of the cellar, Victoria remained silent.
She had no explanation ready anymore.
No perfect sentence.
No charming smile.
No way to make the scene disappear.
And for the first time since she entered the Rossi family’s world, she looked less like someone who owned the room and more like someone afraid of what the room had witnessed.
Victoria had spent years believing that fear belonged to other people.
She had watched employees lower their voices when she entered a room and watched strangers become careful around her because of the name attached to her life.
She had mistaken that caution for respect.
Now, standing above a dark staircase with Leo's daughter in the arms of the man who loved her more than anything, she felt something unfamiliar.
Nobody was trying to impress her.
Nobody was trying to protect her.
They were simply looking at her and waiting for the truth to catch up.
Leo carried Lily upstairs slowly.
Every step was deliberate.
He kept one hand around her back and the other beneath her legs, terrified that moving too quickly would somehow make the nightmare return.
Lily rested her head against his shoulder.
Her breathing was still uneven, but the panic had started to loosen its grip.
Beatrice followed behind them.
Mateo stayed close beside her, watching the way she favored one side of her body when she walked.
“You need a doctor,” he said quietly.
Beatrice shook her head.
“I’m fine.”
Mateo looked at the cut on her cheek.
“That’s not what fine looks like.”
A tired smile almost appeared on her face.
“You sound like Lily.”
“She’s usually right.”
The small exchange lasted only a few seconds, but it reminded Beatrice that the world had not completely disappeared into fear.
There were still ordinary conversations.
There were still people noticing when someone was hurt.
In the kitchen, Leo placed Lily on one of the dining chairs while Beatrice searched through the cabinets for water.
The staff had already started gathering in the hallway.
The mansion that usually moved with silent efficiency had become a place filled with whispers.
Nobody knew what to say.
The housekeeper, Margaret, stood near the doorway holding a folded towel.
She had worked at the mansion longer than anyone except Mateo.
Her eyes moved between Victoria and Leo.
“Is Lily all right?” she asked.
Leo nodded once.
“She’s breathing.”
Margaret released a breath she had been holding.
Then she looked at Beatrice.
The question in her face was obvious.
Beatrice saw it.
She had spent years being the easiest person to doubt.
The maid.
The employee.
The woman who knew her place.
She lowered her eyes before Margaret could even speak.
“I tried to get her out,” Beatrice said.
Margaret immediately stepped forward.
“I didn’t ask that.”
Beatrice looked up.
The older woman squeezed the towel in her hands.
“I asked if you’re all right.”
For some reason, that question hurt more than the injury.
Beatrice looked away.
“I don’t know.”
Nobody rushed to fill the silence after that.
Leo noticed how uncomfortable she looked receiving kindness.
It was strange.
He had seen people fight for attention their entire lives.
He had seen executives exaggerate injuries and problems because sympathy was another kind of currency.
May you like
Beatrice seemed almost embarrassed by needing it.
A paramedic was called, though Leo insisted Lily be checked immediately.
