Chapter 11 - The Spilled Notebook
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At seven-thirty that evening, as the sun dipped below the horizon, Adeline arrived at the estate for her night shift.
As she walked through the quiet foyer, her mind was heavy with worry. She had called the hospital billing office during her break, and they had warned her that Nell's surgical slot would be forfeited in less than forty-eight hours if the deposit wasn't received.
Distracted by her thoughts, Adeline’s foot caught the edge of a raised marble tile. She stumbled, dropping her canvas bag onto the polished stone floor.
The bag burst open, spilling its contents across the foyer: a spare uniform, a small plastic container of blue paper cranes, a pencil, and her worn leather notebook.
Adeline immediately dropped to her knees, hurriedly gathering her belongings. "Oh, no..."
Before she could reach the notebook, a polished leather shoe stopped beside it. A large, scarred hand reached down and picked the book up from the floor.
Adeline looked up, her heart hammering against her ribs.
Enzo Marquetti stood over her, his tall frame blocking out the chandelier light. Up close, his dark eyes were intensely sharp, and the pale scar along his collarbone was clearly visible above his unbuttoned collar.
"I'm so sorry, Mr. Marquetti," Adeline said quickly, standing up and holding out her hand. "I was careless. I'm leaving for Don Alfonso's room now."
Enzo did not return the notebook immediately. The small book had fallen open to a page filled with neat, meticulous columns of numbers—bus fares, grocery budgets, shifts worked, and at the bottom, a single sum circled three times in red ink:
Nell’s Surgery — $185,000.
Beneath the circled number, written in Adeline's small, steady handwriting, was a single phrase:
May you like
Keep going. She will walk again.
Enzo’s eyes rested on those words for several quiet seconds before he slowly closed the notebook and handed it back to her.
