Chapter 5 - The Web of Deceit
The Valente estate was in total lockdown. Heavy steel gates were sealed, security guards with automatic rifles patrolled the stone perimeter, and every servant, guard, and contractor was being subjected to rigorous background checks.
In the grand study, Adrian sat behind a massive mahogany desk. Mara sat across from him, sipping a cup of hot chamomile tea he had personally requested for her. Leo was safely asleep in a adjoining bedroom inside the hospital wing, protected by eight of Adrian's most elite bodyguards.
Thomas Rivas laid three thick manila folders on the desk.
"Vivienne Ashcroft is innocent of the poisoning," Thomas reported, though his face showed no pleasure in admitting it. "She's guilty of tax fraud, illegal political bribery, and lying about her whereabouts during the party—she was meeting a lover in the wine cellar—but she didn't touch Leo's crib."
"Then who did?" Mara asked, leaning forward.
"The perfumer," Thomas said, opening the second folder. "Maison de Fleurus delivered three custom bottles of white iris perfume to the estate at 1:00 PM yesterday. One for Vivienne. One as a gift for the host. And a third... ordered under a alias, delivered directly to the kitchen staff entrance."
Mara’s breath hitched. "The kitchen staff?"
"Mara," Adrian said, his voice smooth and reassuring as he reached across the desk to cover her hand. "No one suspects you. Your bakery staff has been completely cleared. Every single one of your employees was on live camera feeds downstairs during the entire window of the crime."
"Then who accepted the delivery?" Mara asked.
"A woman named Sofia Valli," Thomas said, opening the third folder to reveal a photograph of an older woman with sharp grey eyes and neatly pinned hair. "She was hired three weeks ago as the head housekeeper for the west wing. Her papers were immaculate. Her references came from a high-society agency in New York."
Mara stared at the photograph. She recognized her instantly. "That's Mrs. Valli! She... she was the one who handed me the nursery key card when I arrived yesterday! She told me Leo was sleeping and that I should leave his afternoon tea tray on the side table!"
"Sofia Valli doesn't exist," Adrian said grimly. "Her real name is Sofia Rossi. She is the sister of Marco Rossi... and the aunt of my late wife, Elena."
Mara gasped. "Leo's great-aunt?"
"Yes," Adrian said, his eyes blazing with cold fury. "The Rossi family lost their empire, their land, and their pride when I defeated them. They believed Leo was the rightful heir to the Rossi fortune—a fortune my father seized during the syndicate war thirty years ago and locked away in a blind trust that can only be unlocked by Leo's DNA when he reaches his second birthday."
"Leo turns two next month," Mara realized, the pieces of the puzzle falling into place like a dark mosaic.
"Precisely," Adrian continued. "If Leo disappeared before his birthday, the trust rules dictate that the fortune reverts back to the living bloodlines of the Rossi family—specifically, Sofia Rossi. They didn't just want my son for revenge. They wanted him for two hundred million dollars."
"Where is Sofia now?" Mara asked, fear gripping her throat.
"She vanished fifteen minutes after you pressed the emergency button," Thomas answered. "She used the confusion of the medical team arriving to slip out through the underground service tunnels. But she left something behind in her quarters."
Thomas pulled a small, velvet-lined wooden box from a bag and set it on the table. Inside rested an old, silver-plated music box, identical to the one that hung over Leo’s crib in the nursery.
"The music box," Mara whispered. "When I put Leo down for his nap, the music box above his crib was turning. When I came back... it had stopped."
"Because Sofia swapped them," Adrian said, taking the silver music box out of the velvet lining. "This isn't just a toy, Mara. Look at the base."
Adrian turned the music box upside down, revealing a tiny keyhole hidden behind a silver crest bearing the Rossi family coat of arms.
"This music box belonged to Elena," Adrian said softly. "It was the only thing she brought with her when she married me. I thought it was just a keepsake. But Sofia was searching for it. She knew Elena had hidden something inside it before she died."
Mara looked closely at the keyhole. "Do you have the key?"
"No," Adrian said. "Elena took the key with her when her car went into the lake."
"Wait," Mara said, a sudden memory flashing in her mind. She looked at Adrian, her eyes wide with sudden clarity. "The wooden horse!"
Adrian blinked. "What?"
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"Leo’s wooden horse!" Mara insisted, standing up from her chair. "The day I catered Leo’s first birthday party, I watched him playing with that horse. He dropped it on the marble floor, and a small wooden plug came out of the bottom! I fixed it for him with a drop of food-grade resin! Inside the hollow leg... there was a small, brass key wrapped in red thread!"
Adrian stood up so fast his leather chair scraped loudly against the floor. "Thomas! Get the medical transport team! We are going back to the hospital now!"
