Chapter 1 - Freezing Water in the Grand Corridor
The heavy glass pitcher tipped forward, splashing freezing ice water across Sophia’s head and soaking her black dress down to the marble floor.
Sophia Bellini, a 30s maid with dark hair pinned in a messy bun, gasped silently on her knees as ice cubes bounced off her trembling shoulders. Scattered white roses, freshly crushed under sharp heels, floated in the cold puddle around her knees. Above her stood Valentina Reachi, a glamorous late-20s blonde wearing an elegant dark red silk gown with a high slit, her face twisted in pure, ruthless arrogance.
"You clean secrets... you don't keep them!" Valentina whispered in a cruel, sharp tone, her diamond bracelets glinting beneath the crystal chandelier of the estate corridor.
Sophia shivered violently, her water-soaked apron clinging to her skin as she looked up into the doorway with quiet horror. "Please, Miss Reachi... my daughter heard nothing... I swear she heard nothing..."
Before Valentina could swing her hand to strike Sophia’s face, the heavy double oak doors of the private suite corridor swung wide open.
Lorenzo Moretti—the late-30s ruthless head of the Moretti syndicate—stood in the doorway. Tall, muscular, wearing an unbuttoned dark shirt with dark trousers, his eyes widened slightly before locking onto the ruined white roses scattered across his floor.
A suffocating silence fell over the golden ornate hallway. Valentina’s confident posture instantly stiffened, her hand freezing in mid-air above Sophia's soaked hair.
May you like
Lorenzo stepped into the room, his leather boots crushing a wet white rose petal underfoot as his gaze shifted from the empty glass pitcher straight to Valentina’s arrogant face.
👉 Read Part 2 to see Valentina’s desperate attempt to lie her way out of trouble.
