Her voice came down the marble like broken glass. *Get out of my house.

Rosa lowered her head, tears filling her eyes. "He... he didn't give me a real name, Don Moretti. He told me his name was Leo. He worked at the docks."

"Leo," Silas repeated, a bitter, painful smile touching his lips. "Julian always used that alias when he went off the grid."

Isabella let out a sharp, hysterical laugh. "Silas! You cannot seriously believe this maid! She’s trying to trap you! She probably stole that button from the storage rooms to construct a fake story!"

"Silence!" Silas roared, the authority in his voice bouncing off the marble walls like thunder.

Isabella flinched, shutting her mouth instantly, her face burning with embarrassment in front of the servants.

Silas turned back to Rosa. "Did he leave anything else with you?"

Rosa reached into her apron pocket with shaking fingers. She pulled out a small, worn leather pouch tied with a faded ribbon. She held it out toward the Don.

"He gave me this the night before he disappeared," Rosa whispered, her voice cracking. "He told me if anything ever happened to him, I should keep it safe for our baby. He said never to bring it to this house... but I had nowhere else to go when the rent ran out."

Silas took the leather pouch with trembling hands.

He untied the ribbon and poured the contents into his palm.

Out fell a heavy, signet ring made of solid platinum, engraved with Julian's initials, alongside a folded, handwritten letter written in dark blue ink.

Silas recognized the handwriting instantly. It was his son's script.