Chapter 4 - The Secret Behind the Locked Drawer
The consultant's name was Victor Sloane.
Alessandro knew him as a financial intermediary who had once offered to broker a deal between rival interests. The offer had been rejected, and Sloane had vanished from the Rizzano family's circle.
Now his name appeared on an invoice paid by a company associated with Bianca's father.
Michael Grant was careful not to draw conclusions before the evidence was complete.
“The invoice alone proves only that the company paid for consulting,” he said. “It doesn't prove the purpose was unlawful.”
“I understand.”
“But the timing is concerning. The payment was made six weeks before your planned wedding.”
“Find out what he reviewed.”
“I've already sent a formal preservation request to the relevant parties.”
Alessandro looked across the study at Matteo.
“Find out whether Bianca met him.”
Matteo nodded.
“And keep the inquiry lawful. I want records, witnesses, and verifiable facts. No threats. No one touches him.”
“Understood.”
Alessandro's organization had survived because he knew the difference between intimidation and intelligence. He could be ruthless when necessary, but anger was not a substitute for proof.
Especially when Livia was involved.
Upstairs, Rosalie was helping the child choose a book.
Livia had asked for the same story three times, though she usually insisted on something new each evening. Rosalie understood that familiar words could be comforting when the world had suddenly changed.
When Alessandro entered, Livia held up the book.
“Daddy, can you read?”
“Of course.”
He sat on the rug beside her bed and read slowly. When he reached the final page, she leaned against him.
“Will my hair grow back?”
“Yes.”
“How long?”
“A little while.”
She considered that.
“Will Bianca come back before it grows?”
“No.”
“Not even if she says sorry?”
Alessandro took a moment before answering.
“An apology doesn't mean someone gets to come back into your life. It means they understand they did something wrong. Then the grown-ups have to decide what is safe.”
Livia looked at the picture on the last page.
“Can I decide too?”
“Yes, sweetheart. Your feelings matter. The adults are responsible for keeping you safe, but you can always tell us how you feel.”
She nodded, apparently satisfied.
That afternoon, Bianca's mother, Isabella Moretti, arrived at the estate without an appointment.
Security notified Alessandro before allowing her beyond the gate.
He agreed to meet her in the formal sitting room, but Rosalie remained nearby.
Isabella entered wearing a cream suit and an expression of wounded dignity.
“This has gone far enough,” she said.
Alessandro did not offer her tea.
“Has it?”
“My daughter is devastated. You ended a wedding in front of hundreds of people and made her look cruel.”
“She cut a three-year-old's hair while the child begged her to stop.”
Isabella's mouth tightened.
“Bianca says Livia was being difficult.”
“Then Bianca is lying.”
“You should be careful about accusing people.”
“You should be careful about defending what you haven't bothered to understand.”
Isabella sat stiffly.
“Bianca has spent years preparing for this marriage. She gave up opportunities to build a life with you.”
“She was not asked to give up anything.”
“She believed she would become part of your family.”
“She could have become part of it by loving my daughter.”
Isabella's expression flickered.
“Children can be jealous. Livia may have been testing her.”
Alessandro leaned forward.
“Do not blame my daughter for an adult's cruelty.”
Isabella rose.
“You are making a terrible mistake. Bianca knows things about your family that you would rather remain private.”
The room fell silent.
Alessandro studied her.
“What things?”
She seemed to realize she had said too much.
“Business matters. Personal matters. Things she learned while planning the wedding.”
“Such as?”
Isabella picked up her handbag.
“I won't discuss this without my lawyer.”
“Then you should have brought one.”
She left without another word.
Alessandro remained seated, considering her final threat.
That evening, Matteo returned with an update. Bianca had met Victor Sloane at a private restaurant three times over the previous two months. Two meetings occurred shortly after Michael rejected the proposed trust amendment.
“There is no record of what they discussed,” Matteo explained. “But we found messages between Bianca and her assistant arranging the meetings.”
“What do they say?”
Matteo opened a file.
One message read:
He says the existing trust makes this more complicated than we thought.
Another:
Then find another way. I will not spend my life being treated like a guest in my own house.
Alessandro stared at the screen.
A third message, sent three days before the wedding, was even more revealing.
Once the ceremony is over, he will have to listen to me. Everything changes when I have the title.
“Did she mention Livia?”
“Not directly in these messages.”
“Keep looking.”
Matteo hesitated.
“There is something else. The hotel staff found a small case in the bridal suite after the wedding was canceled. It contained grooming supplies, including the clippers.”
“Was it Bianca's?”
“The case had her initials on it.”
Alessandro remembered the way she had held the clippers, the casual confidence with which she had approached his daughter.
It had not been an impulsive act with whatever object happened to be nearby. She had brought the equipment into the suite.
He felt a fresh wave of anger, but he kept his voice level.
“Preserve the case. Photograph everything. Make sure the investigators receive copies.”
Matteo nodded.
When he left, Alessandro returned to the bedroom.
Livia was sitting cross-legged on the bed, arranging her stuffed animals in a line.
“What's happening?” he asked.
“They're having a meeting.”
“About what?”
“Who gets to sit next to me.”
He smiled faintly.
“Who won?”
“Rabbit. He's the quietest.”
Alessandro sat beside her.
“That's a very good choice.”
She leaned against him, then looked up.
“Daddy, why didn't you know Bianca was mean?”
The question caught him unprepared.
He could have blamed her deception, her charm, or the pressures of his life. Instead, he chose the truth.
“Because I made a mistake. I believed what she showed me, and I didn't look carefully enough at how she treated you when I wasn't there.”
Livia absorbed this with the seriousness only a small child could give a simple answer.
“Will you look now?”
“Yes.”
“Even when you're busy?”
“Even when I'm busy.”
She seemed to accept that promise.
Later that night, Alessandro reviewed the evidence once more. The clippers, the secret meetings, the messages about titles and trust arrangements—all pointed toward a woman determined to secure power inside his family.
But he still did not know why she had chosen to humiliate Livia so openly.
Then a new message arrived from an unknown number.
It contained a photograph of Bianca entering a private office with Victor Sloane.
Below it were eight words:
Ask what she promised him in return.
Alessandro stared at the image.
May you like
Someone was guiding him toward a truth.
The question was whether that person wanted justice—or wanted to use the truth to destroy the Rizzano family from within.
