Chapter 2 - THE UNUSUAL MESSAGE|
Adriano did not confront Valentina that afternoon.
He had survived too many betrayals to mistake anger for evidence. If someone had been tampering with his drink, confronting the wrong person could warn the real culprit and destroy whatever proof remained.
Instead, he dismissed everyone from the office except Simone Bellini, his personal assistant.
"Pull the access records for this room," Adriano ordered. "I want every entrance documented for the past thirty days."
Simone nodded.
"Is there a particular reason, sir?"
"Someone may have handled my personal property without permission."
Simone's expression remained neutral.
"I'll investigate."
"And Simone?"
"Yes, sir?"
"Do not discuss this request with anyone. Not Valentina, not the security team, and not my physician."
Simone hesitated for half a second.
Then he nodded.
"Understood."
Once he left, Adriano examined the tumbler without touching its rim. The glass seemed ordinary, its gold band slightly worn from years of use.
His father had given it to him when he took control of the family business.
Adriano had used it every afternoon since.
He called Marcus DeLuca, his head of security.
"Bring a clean evidence container. Photograph the desk before moving anything."
Marcus arrived within minutes.
When Adriano explained what Nina had noticed, the security chief looked unsettled.
"A child noticed the glass?"
"She noticed changes I ignored."
Marcus carefully secured the tumbler.
"We should have the contents examined independently."
"Agreed. No one from the household physician's office handles it."
The two men worked in silence until Marcus received an alert on his tablet.
"Sir, there's something unusual."
"What?"
"The office-access log shows that Valentina's security credential entered this room at 2:17 p.m. today."
Adriano checked the clock.
"She told me she was meeting the wedding planner."
"According to the estate schedule, that meeting was canceled yesterday."
Adriano felt his jaw tighten.
"Who else entered?"
"Simone was here at 1:42. Your physician arrived at 2:03, left at 2:09, and returned at 2:25."
"Why did he return?"
"The record doesn't say."
Adriano studied the timeline.
"Was there a camera outage?"
Marcus hesitated.
"Yes. The office camera stopped recording at 2:14. It came back online at 2:23."
Nine minutes.
Exactly the interval during which someone could have entered the room, handled the glass, and left without appearing on camera.
"Can you determine who disabled it?"
"The command came from an authorized account."
"Whose?"
Marcus looked down.
"Your account, sir."
Adriano stared at him.
"That's impossible. I was in the western conference room at the time."
Marcus nodded.
"Someone may have accessed your credentials remotely."
Adriano walked to the window.
His memory had been failing for months. Now he could no longer be certain that every decision attributed to him had actually been his.
Simone returned with the access report.
"I found something else," he said. "The office camera has been switched off nine times in the past six weeks."
Adriano turned.
"Nine?"
"All during the afternoon. All within the hour before your usual drink."
The room seemed to contract.
Adriano took out his phone and sent a message to the independent laboratory handling the tumbler.
Test everything. No assumptions. No household medical records.
Then he looked at Marcus.
"From this moment on, no drink reaches my desk unless I see exactly where it comes from."
Outside the office, Nina stood near the staircase with her notebook.
She had heard enough to understand that the adults were finally taking her seriously.
Then Valentina appeared beside her.
"You're a very observant little girl," she said sweetly.
Nina said nothing.
Valentina leaned closer.
"But sometimes observant children misunderstand things. And sometimes, when they tell stories about important people, their mothers lose their jobs."
Nina's fingers tightened around her notebook.
Valentina smiled.
"Wouldn't want that to happen to Rosa, would we?"
She walked away.
May you like
Nina waited until the footsteps faded, then opened her notebook and wrote a new line.
Mrs. Valentina threatened Mommy without raising her voice.
Related Stories
