Chapter 5 - The Cover-Up
"Miss Vanessa ripped Marisol's uniform," Emma cried, the memory breaking her heart all over again. "She dragged her to the front door and threw her out into the rain without her phone or her wallet. Then she called the police and filed a fake police report for grand larceny so Marisol would be too terrified to ever come back."
Marcus Thorne scoffed loudly, adjusting his grey tie. "This is absurd. I'm a married public servant. I don't need to force myself on the hired help. Your fiancée handled a delinquent employee, Moretti. That's all."
Vanessa latched onto Marcus’s defense instantly. "Exactly! Luca, look at her! Emma is just trying to cover for her thief of a friend! Are you really going to let a maid ruin a fifty-million-dollar deal?!"
Luca slowly unbuttoned his suit jacket. He didn't look angry anymore. He looked entirely dead inside.
"Fifty million dollars," Luca repeated softly.
"Yes!" Vanessa urged, stepping closer and trying to place her hand on his chest. "We need his political connections, darling! I was protecting our future!"
Luca looked down at her hand. He didn't swat it away. He just stared at it until Vanessa uncomfortably pulled it back.
"You used my home," Luca said coldly. "You used my protection. And you used the women who scrub your floors to pay for your investments."
"She's lying, Luca!" Vanessa panicked, her eyes darting wildly. "Where is her proof?! She has absolutely no proof!"
Marcus smirked triumphantly. "She's right, son. It's a he-said, she-said. And my word carries a lot more weight in a courtroom than a crying girl in an apron."
Emma looked down at the marble floor, a fresh wave of despair washing over her. They were right. She was just a maid. She had no power here.
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But then, Emma reached into the deep pocket of her black uniform.
👉 What piece of undeniable evidence is Emma about to pull out of her pocket?
