Chapter 3 - The Stuffed Bunny
The young maid, Maria, trembled violently against the marble floor, but the sheer injustice of the accusation finally broke through her terror.
"I didn't steal anything, Mr. Moretti!" Maria cried out, tears streaming down her pale face. "I swear on my life! Miss Victoria is lying!"
Dominic stood up slowly. His towering frame cast a heavy, intimidating shadow over the living room. He looked at Victoria, then down at the weeping maid. The cinematic realism of his cold, calculating gaze made the air in the room drop ten degrees.
"Then why did she find you digging through the nursery closet?" Dominic demanded, his voice echoing with absolute authority.
Maria swallowed hard, pointing a shaking finger toward the background.
"I wasn't digging for jewelry, sir," Maria sobbed. "I was looking for a sewing kit. Miss Victoria tried to throw away the twins' favorite stuffed bunny this morning. She ripped the back of it. I was just trying to sew it back together before the girls noticed."
Dominic slowly turned his head.
Standing quietly near the sweeping staircase, the four-year-old twins were clutching the worn, grey stuffed bunny. It was the exact bunny Isabella had given them the day before she died.
Victoria’s face lost all its color. She lunged forward with frantic, animalistic desperation, reaching directly for the twins.
"Give me that filthy toy right now!" Victoria shrieked, completely abandoning her elegant, high-society facade.
She never reached the children.
May you like
With blinding, terrifying speed, Dominic’s heavily tattooed hand shot out. He grabbed Victoria’s wrist mid-air, his grip like a steel vise, violently stopping her in her tracks.
👉 Victoria’s panic completely exposed her guilt, and Dominic was about to discover exactly what was hidden inside the toy.
