Chapter 20 - THE GLASS ON THE DESK| Daniel Price arrived at the estate shortly before midnight.
He carried no briefcase, no paperwork, and no explanation. He walked into Adriano's study as though he had spent a lifetime expecting this meeting.
"You drugged me," Adriano said.
Price shook his head.
"No."
"You authorized the trust payments."
"Yes."
"You concealed my mother's medical records."
"Yes."
"You knew someone was interfering with my treatment."
Price looked toward the window.
"I knew someone wanted you to believe you were losing your mind."
Adriano stepped closer.
"Who?"
Price took a slow breath.
"Your father created the system. Simone maintained it. Valentina exploited it. Dr. Ferro participated because he believed his career depended on obedience."
"And you?"
"I kept the records."
Adriano felt his anger rise.
"Why?"
"Because I was afraid that if the full truth emerged, the family would collapse."
"You protected the family while someone poisoned me."
"I protected the people I believed could still be saved."
"That wasn't your decision to make."
Price lowered his eyes.
"No. It wasn't."
He handed Adriano a sealed envelope.
Inside was a medical transfer record for a woman identified as Eleanor Castellano. The document confirmed that she had survived her illness and had been moved to a private residence under another name.
The last known address matched the facility Marcus had searched.
A recent photograph was attached.
Eleanor stood beside a young woman with dark hair.
The woman was wearing a housemaid's uniform.
Adriano looked at the picture.
It was Rosa.
He stared at the image, unable to understand.
"Why was Rosa with my mother?"
Price shook his head.
"I don't know. The photograph was taken six weeks ago, before Rosa was hired at the estate."
Adriano turned toward the door.
"Bring Rosa here."
Marcus called the security team, but Rosa could not be found. Her apartment was empty, her phone was switched off, and the staff records showed that she had requested emergency leave earlier that evening.
Nina was also missing.
Adriano felt the room tilt.
He called every hospital, security office, and contact he trusted. No one knew where they were.
Then his phone vibrated.
A message appeared from an unknown number.
It contained a photograph of Nina sitting in a quiet room beside an elderly woman.
Eleanor.
Beneath it were eight words.
Stop searching for us, or Nina will learn everything.
Adriano stared at the screen.
He called the number.
A woman's voice answered.
"Adriano?"
"Mother?"
The voice trembled.
"You have to stop investigating the trust."
"Where are you?"
"I can't tell you."
"Why have you been hiding from me?"
"Because your father wasn't the only person responsible."
Adriano gripped the phone.
"Who else?"
A pause followed.
Then Eleanor whispered, "The person who has been protecting you is the same person who has been drugging you."
The line disconnected.
Adriano turned toward the desk.
The dark glass tumbler stood beside his papers.
Its gold band caught the light.
The scratch faced the window.
Someone had returned it again.
He approached the desk carefully, then noticed a small folded note beneath the base.
He opened it.
You found the first truth. Now find the child who changed the glass.
Adriano stared at the words.
Nina had noticed the tumbler.
But someone else had been moving it.
Someone who knew the estate, the family, and every locked room.
Someone who might have been helping him.
Or setting him up for something worse.
Outside, a car engine started.
Adriano rushed to the window.
A black vehicle pulled away from the gates.
In the rear seat, he saw Rosa holding Nina's hand.
The child looked directly toward the house.
Then she raised her fingers to the window and signed a message.
Adriano knew only a few signs.
But this one he understood.
Don't trust him.
He looked back toward the study door.
Daniel Price was gone.
And on the desk, beside the glass, lay a new photograph.
It showed Adriano as a young man, standing beside his father and a little girl who had never appeared in any family album.
On the back, someone had written her name.
Nina Conti.
The date beneath it was twenty years old.
Adriano stared at the photograph, unable to understand how a child who was nine years old could have appeared in a picture taken before she was born.
May you like
Then he noticed the second line.
That isn't her real name.
