“Her hand got caught in the linen closet,” Vanessa said before Luca even asked what happened, never realizing the security footage would later prove she had been there. / Chapter 6 / 61

Chapter 6 - The Morning After

Sunday morning broke over Chicago with a heavy, bruised-sky dawn, casting long, gray shadows across the cobblestones of the Moretti courtyard. The engagement banners had already been taken down by the early shift staff, folded neatly and stored away in utility closets as if the glittering spectacle of the previous night had never happened.

Claire Dawson sat at the small wooden table in the staff breakroom, nursing a cup of black coffee with her left hand resting carefully inside its white medical splint.

The events of the past twelve hours still felt surreal—like a fever dream experienced from a distance. The dinner party abruptly ending early; Vanessa being escorted off the premises in the dead of night; Julian disappearing into the subterranean levels of the estate; and Luca Moretti standing alone in the grand hallway, watching the taillights of the town car fade into the rainy Chicago mist.

A soft knock sounded on the breakroom door.

Claire looked up as the door swung open. It wasn't the head cook or the housekeeper supervisor. It was Luca.

He had removed his suit jacket; his white shirt was open at the collar, and he looked tired, the shadows beneath his dark eyes testifying to a sleepless night. He stepped into the small room, closing the door behind him.

"Good morning, Claire," Luca said quietly.

"Mr. Moretti," she replied, starting to stand up.

"Sit. Don't strain your hand." Luca pulled out a metal folding chair opposite her and sat down, resting his forearms on the table. "Dr. Harris called in your updated chart an hour ago. He said the bone fracture will take six weeks to heal properly."

"I'll still be able to work," Claire said quickly, her instinct for self-preservation kicking in. "I can manage the linens, the cleaning—I don't need time off."

"You won't be doing housework for the next six weeks," Luca interrupted gently.

Claire’s breath caught. "Are you firing me?"

"No," Luca said, a faint, rare ghost of a smile touching the corner of his mouth. "I'm reassigning you."

"Reassigning me to what? There are no other maid positions—"

"Not as a maid," Luca corrected. "Last night, while my former fiancée was busy stealing documents and your hand was getting broken in a linen closet, my administrative audit team discovered significant financial discrepancies in the estate's domestic accounting records. Discrepancies that Vanessa was managing." He leaned forward, his dark eyes fixing on hers with intense, analytical clarity. "According to your employee file, you have a degree in forensic accounting from Northwestern University."

Claire froze. Her coffee cup hovered halfway to her mouth.

"How do you..." She stopped, then let out a dry, humorless breath. "Right. You're Luca Moretti. You run background checks on your housemaids."

"I run background checks on everyone who enters my home," Luca admitted without hesitation. "When you applied three months ago under a modified middle name, I assumed you were running from bad debt or a messy breakup. I didn't realize you were sitting on credentials that could untangle a dozen shell companies."

"I needed a job," Claire said defensively. "Accounting firms don't hire people who dropped out of the high-society circuit after a family scandal. Being a housemaid in a syndicate mansion pays cash, keeps my head down, and asks fewer questions than a corporate HR department."

"Well, your cover is blown," Luca said smoothly. "Starting tomorrow, your desk will be in the second-floor study, not the laundry room. Your salary will be tripled, your medical expenses will be covered by the estate, and you will help me audit every single financial ledger that Vanessa touched in the last three years."

Claire stared at him across the small table, her mind racing. The danger hadn't disappeared—it had simply changed shape. Working as a housemaid meant staying invisible. Working as Luca Moretti’s forensic auditor meant stepping directly into the crosshairs of whatever corporate and criminal wars he was fighting.

"And if I say no?" Claire asked, her chin lifting defiantly.

Luca stood up, buttoning his cuffs. "You can walk out the front door right now. But considering Vanessa’s father still thinks you’re the one who leaked the acquisition documents to me, you wouldn't make it three blocks before his people caught up with you. Here, behind these gates, nobody touches my staff."