Chapter 5 - A Promise Made in the Dark
Alessandro had learned long ago that anonymous information was rarely offered without a price.
The photograph of Bianca and Victor Sloane might have been genuine, but whoever sent it wanted him to follow a particular trail. That could mean the sender was a witness who feared coming forward.
It could also mean someone wanted him to react before he understood the whole picture.
He forwarded the photograph to Michael Grant.
“Verify the location and date,” he instructed. “I want to know whether it was taken recently and whether the image has been altered.”
Michael agreed.
Then Alessandro called Matteo.
“Trace the message through lawful channels. Preserve the original. Don't contact the sender unless we can establish who they are.”
Within an hour, the investigation had two parallel tracks: Bianca's conduct toward Livia and her communications with Sloane.
Alessandro refused to let one obscure the other.
Whatever Bianca had intended financially, the child had suffered real fear. That was not a business dispute to be buried beneath paperwork.
The following morning, Livia met Dr. Hannah Brooks, a child therapist recommended by the pediatrician.
Alessandro remained in the waiting room while Rosalie accompanied Livia inside. The therapist had explained that young children often expressed fear through play, changes in routine, or repeated questions rather than clear chronological accounts.
She did not press Livia to describe the incident.
Instead, she offered crayons, wooden figures, and a dollhouse.
After twenty minutes, Rosalie returned to the waiting room.
“How did it go?” Alessandro asked.
“She's quiet, but she played.”
“Did she talk about Bianca?”
“A little. Dr. Brooks said not to rush her.”
Alessandro nodded.
He wanted answers. He wanted to know every cruel thing Bianca had said and every moment Livia had felt frightened. But he understood that forcing the child to repeat the experience for his benefit would only make her carry it again.
When Livia emerged, she held a drawing.
It showed a little girl standing beside a tall figure in a black suit. Above them was a yellow sun. A woman stood far away, separated from the others by a thick red line.
“Is that me?” Alessandro asked.
Livia nodded.
“And who's this?”
“That's you.”
He pointed to the distant figure.
“Who is she?”
Livia lowered the paper.
“Bianca.”
“Why is she so far away?”
“Because she can't come here.”
Alessandro crouched.
“That's your drawing, sweetheart. You can put people wherever you want.”
She considered that and then added a small blue door beside the figures.
“What's the door?”
“So we can close it.”
He kissed her forehead.
“Then we'll make sure you always have a door you can close.”
That afternoon, Michael called with the results of the initial document review.
“The proposed amendment would not have given Bianca immediate ownership of Livia's trust,” he explained. “But it would have allowed her to seek a formal administrative role after the marriage if additional approvals were obtained.”
“Could that have created a conflict of interest?”
“Yes. Especially if she also had access to household financial information. We rejected the proposal because it lacked adequate safeguards.”
“Did Bianca know it had been rejected?”
“She received the explanation. Her assistant requested a revised draft.”
Alessandro's expression hardened.
“So she knew she wasn't getting what she wanted.”
“Yes.”
“Then why go ahead with the wedding?”
Michael paused.
“That is the question.”
Later, Matteo brought a verified timeline. Bianca had met Sloane on three occasions. His consulting company had received payments from a business partly owned by Bianca's father. The records did not establish that Alessandro's organization was involved in any wrongdoing, but they raised questions about whether the proposed marriage was being used to gain influence over the family's financial arrangements.
One message from Bianca's assistant stood out.
Miss Moretti believes the household will be easier to manage once the child understands the new hierarchy.
Alessandro read it slowly.
“Who wrote this?”
“Her assistant, Julia Mercer. We haven't spoken to her yet.”
“Find out whether she's willing to give a statement. Make it clear she doesn't have to protect Bianca.”
That evening, Alessandro returned home early.
Livia was building a tower of wooden blocks in the living room. Rosalie sat nearby, helping only when the tower leaned dangerously.
When Livia saw her father, she held up both hands.
“Look!”
The tower was nearly as tall as her shoulder.
“That's impressive,” he said.
“It has a door at the bottom.”
He knelt to examine it.
“What's the door for?”
“So the good people can come in.”
“And the bad people?”
“They have to knock.”
He felt a sharp ache behind his ribs.
“That sounds fair.”
She handed him a block.
“Help me make it stronger.”
They spent the next half hour building walls around the tower. Every time a block fell, Livia giggled instead of crying.
For the first time since the wedding suite, Alessandro heard her laugh without immediately checking whether she was frightened.
He treasured the sound.
But peace lasted only until his phone rang.
It was Julia Mercer, Bianca's former assistant.
“I don't know how much I should say,” she began.
“Only what you know firsthand,” Alessandro replied. “Don't guess.”
Julia took a shaky breath.
“Bianca was furious when your lawyer rejected the trust amendment. She said marrying you should mean she had a voice in the family's future.”
“Did she say anything about Livia?”
“Yes.”
“What?”
Julia hesitated.
“She said Livia was the one person who could make you change your mind about anything.”
Alessandro's face went cold.
“Go on.”
“She thought you were too protective. She said the child would always come first, no matter what Bianca wanted.”
“And what did she intend to do about that?”
“I don't know everything. But a few days before the wedding, she asked me to find out whether your daughter had a favorite person among the household staff.”
“Why?”
“She said she wanted to know who might encourage Livia to resist her.”
Alessandro looked toward the living room, where Livia was carefully rebuilding her tower.
“Did she ever mention cutting the child's hair?”
“No. I swear she didn't.”
“Did she bring the clippers to the hotel herself?”
Julia answered quietly.
“Yes.”
The confirmation settled heavily in the room.
“Why didn't you warn us?”
“I was afraid. Bianca said anyone who interfered would lose their job, and her father has connections. I thought she was only trying to intimidate the staff.”
Alessandro kept his voice controlled.
“Would you be willing to give a formal statement?”
“Yes.”
“Michael Grant will contact you. You may have your own lawyer present. Nobody will ask you to say anything you don't know to be true.”
Julia began to cry.
“I should have done something for that little girl.”
“You're doing something now.”
After the call, Alessandro stood by the window for a long time.
Bianca had not merely lost her temper. She had identified Livia as an obstacle to the authority she wanted and had tried to establish dominance over the child before the marriage.
The haircut had been a message.
It had told Livia that Bianca believed she could do whatever she wanted when Alessandro wasn't present.
It had told Alessandro that he had nearly brought a dangerous person into his daughter's home.
And it had told him that love could not be measured by the promises someone made in public. It had to be measured by how they treated the vulnerable when nobody important was watching.
That night, Alessandro sat beside Livia's bed until she fell asleep.
Her hair was still uneven, and the pediatrician had suggested a gentle trim by a trusted professional when she felt ready. For now, Alessandro left it alone.
As he stood to leave, Livia reached for his hand.
“Daddy?”
“Yes?”
“You'll come tomorrow?”
“I'll be here.”
“Even if you have meetings?”
He paused.
“Even if I have meetings.”
She closed her eyes, still holding his finger.
Alessandro remained beside her until her breathing became slow and steady.
Then he walked downstairs, where Matteo was waiting with one final update.
“Boss, we found the person who sent the photograph.”
“Who?”
“Victor Sloane himself.”
Alessandro's expression changed.
“Why would he send it?”
Matteo placed a second photograph on the table.
It showed Sloane standing beside a man Alessandro had not seen in years.
His older cousin, Paolo Rizzano.
Paolo had been absent from family affairs since a bitter inheritance dispute, and everyone believed he had moved overseas.
May you like
Apparently, he had not.
And now Alessandro understood that Bianca's ambitions might have been connected to a conflict that had begun long before she entered his life.
