Chapter 9 - THE CHILD WHO HEARD THE WHISPER| Nina was drawing at the kitchen table when she overheard Valentina speaking in the adjoining pantry.
She had not intended to listen. She was waiting for Rosa to finish a late shift so they could walk home together. But Valentina's voice was sharp enough to carry through the half-open door.
"He's asking questions again," Valentina whispered.
A man's voice answered.
"Then the plan needs to move faster."
"How much longer?"
"Until the board meeting."
Nina stopped coloring.
Valentina continued.
"If he remembers everything, we're finished."
The man replied, "He won't. Ferro knows what he's doing."
Nina's heart began to pound.
She slipped her notebook into her cardigan pocket and moved quietly toward the corridor.
Then she heard a sentence that made her stop.
"And the child?"
Valentina's voice dropped.
"She is becoming a problem."
Nina backed away.
A floorboard creaked beneath her shoe.
The voices stopped.
"Nina?" Valentina called.
Nina hurried toward the kitchen.
She had almost reached the door when Valentina appeared behind her.
"What are you doing here?"
"I was waiting for Mommy."
"Then why were you near the pantry?"
"I heard someone talking."
Valentina crouched in front of her.
"What did you hear?"
Nina shook her head.
"Nothing."
Valentina studied her face.
Then she smiled.
"Good girl. Some conversations aren't meant for children."
She stood and returned to the pantry.
Nina waited until she was gone before running to the staff room.
Rosa found her crying beside the lockers.
"What happened?"
Nina held out her notebook.
"I heard Mrs. Valentina say I'm a problem."
Rosa's face went pale.
She knelt beside her daughter.
"You're not a problem, sweetheart."
"Then why does she keep trying to make me go away?"
Rosa pulled Nina into her arms.
"I don't know. But we're going to be careful."
That evening, Rosa asked Luca for permission to take Nina home and remain away from the estate until the investigation was complete.
Luca agreed immediately.
"No job is worth putting your daughter at risk."
Rosa looked relieved.
"Thank you, sir."
But as they prepared to leave, Marcus reported that a vehicle had been parked outside the staff entrance for nearly an hour. The driver had not approached the house, but he had taken photographs of Rosa and Nina through the gate.
Luca ordered the security team to escort them home and arrange temporary protection.
Nina sat beside her mother in the car, gripping her notebook.
"Mommy?"
"Yes?"
"If Mr. Castellano forgets everything, will the bad people win?"
Rosa looked at her.
"No, sweetheart. Not if people tell the truth."
Nina nodded.
Then she opened her notebook and wrote down the words she remembered from the pantry.
Board meeting. Ferro. The child is a problem.
She circled the last sentence twice.
May you like
Because for the first time, she understood that the danger wasn't limited to Mr. Castellano.
It had reached her, too.
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