Chapter 4 - The Smeared Evidence
“Dante, darling! What on earth are you doing?!” Victoria gasped, dramatically placing a manicured hand over her chest as if he had terrified her. “You broke the door!”
Dante’s dark eyes scanned the elegant sitting room. The room was perfectly still. There was no sign of Marcus. There was no sign of a conspiracy.
Victoria stood up, her blue eyes narrowing with toxic, arrogant entitlement as she noticed Rosa and Sophia standing nervously in the hallway behind Dante.
“Did that lying peasant child tell you a story?” Victoria sneered, pointing a vicious finger at Sophia. “I told you, Dante, you need to fire that maid! Her brat is completely delusional! She’s been spying on me all day!”
Dante’s sharp jawline tightened. For a fraction of a second, he doubted the little girl. He turned around, preparing to apologize to his fiancée and ask Rosa to take her daughter downstairs.
But Sophia didn't retreat.
She walked bravely into the room, holding her purple crayon up for Dante to see.
“I'm not lying,” Sophia stated firmly, her innocent voice cutting through the tension. “I was playing on the floor earlier. I pushed my crayon under the door. When I pulled it back... he stepped on it.”
Dante frowned in confusion. He looked down at the pristine, polished marble floor of the sitting room.
Right near the heavy, floor-to-ceiling velvet curtains that covered the massive windows, there was a tiny, unmistakable mark.
It was a perfectly crushed, smeared streak of purple wax, trailing directly behind the thick velvet fabric.
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The cinematic realism of Dante’s realization crushed the air from the room. Someone was standing behind the curtain, and they had accidentally stepped on the crayon when they rushed to hide.
👉 Dante slowly approached the velvet curtains, preparing to drag the monster out of the shadows.
