Chapter 3 - The Confession
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I stared up into Luca’s dark, unyielding eyes. The air in the grand hallway was thick, heavy with the unspoken violence that always seemed to surround this family. Isabella stood behind him, her perfectly manicured hands clenched into fists, her eyes burning with a silent, deadly promise.
"I asked you a question," Luca said, his voice dropping to a low, gravelly register that sent a shiver down my spine. "Who did this to you?"
I looked at my swollen, discolored leg. I thought about the hospital bills waiting for me at home. I thought about my mother, who depended on my meager paycheck. If I spoke the truth, I would be fired. Or worse. But if I lied to Luca Moretti, the consequences could be fatal.
"It wasn't a fall," I whispered, the words tumbling out of my mouth before I could stop them.
Isabella let out a sharp gasp.
"You lying little rat," she hissed, stepping forward, dropping the polished, aristocratic act completely. "Luca, don't listen to her! She's a clumsy maid trying to extort us for money!"
Luca didn't even turn his head. He kept his massive frame positioned firmly between us, acting as an impenetrable human shield.
"Who?" Luca repeated, ignoring his fiancée's panicked outburst entirely.
I took a ragged breath and looked past his broad shoulder, locking eyes with the woman who had tormented me for six weeks.
"She did," I said clearly. "Isabella pushed me into the storage bench."
The silence that followed was absolute. It was the kind of silence that happens right before a bomb detonates.
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Luca slowly stood up to his full height. He adjusted his suit jacket, his face an impenetrable mask of cold, terrifying stone. When he finally turned to face Isabella, the temperature in the room plummeted.
"Is this true?" he asked softly.
