Chapter 6
Ever since Dora started living with Maria, she got weirdly clingy to Luca.
My contact at the Moretti estate told me what happened the day before the wedding anniversary. Luca finally came back to the villa after days of doing ‘business‘.
By then, Maria had already shown up with Dora, pretending to help decorate for the party.
The moment Dora saw Luca, she ran to him, didn’t even look back at Maria.
That caught Luca off guard.
Lately, Dora had barely looked him in the eye.
She’d always stayed close to Maria, always watching him like he was a stranger, or worse… someone to be afraid of.
He never forced her to come close, guilt weighed on him heavy enough.
After all the things he’d done, the last thing he wanted was to scare his own daughter.
But that day, when she ran into his arms, he felt hope.
He hugged her close, and then something in her pocket caught his eye.
“Dora, what’s this?” he asked, gently pulling out a small square of cloth with a familiar rose print. “Where’d you get this?”
Dora looked down and mumbled, “It’s my handkerchief… Maria gave it to me.”
Luca froze. “Handkerchief? What are you talking about?” His voice shot up without him meaning to,
Dora flinched and started to cry.
sharp and angry.
She looked around like she was searching for someone, someone to run to. But then, she stopped. Something held her back. She stood there, quiet, tears falling, lips trembling, but she didn’t move. Didn’t go to anyone.
That cloth, it wasn’t just any fabric. Luca knew it in an instant.
Six years ago, while he was handling business in Europe, he had a custom dress made for me at a little tailor shop no one else in Italy seemed to know about.
The pattern, those tiny rose clusters was unique.
He’d given me that dress after I gave birth to Dora. He wasn’t there for me at the hospital, so I guess the dress was his way of saying sorry. Of trying, in his own messed–up way.
And now? That dress had been cut up. Turned into a child’s handkerchief.
Luca’s jaw tightened. He stood up, still holding the scrap of fabric, and stormed upstairs to find Maria.
He found her in the sitting room, talking to Fiona like she had nothing better to do.
He shoved the cloth in Maria’s face.
“How dare you touch Catrina’s things? And cut up her dress like it meant nothing?”
Maria blinked, caught off guard “Luca, what are you talking about? I…I never…”
“Cut the crap,” he snapped. “Don’t play innocent with me. This…” he held up the cloth again, “…was part of the dress I had made for Catrina. A one–of–a–kind. And now it’s a goddamn napkin?”
Maria stared at the fabric, eyes wide at first, like she just realized she’d slipped.
Chapter 6
+25 BONUS
Then her whole expression changed.
She went soft, fragile, the corners of her eyes glossing over with tears.
Fiona jumped in immediately, pulling Maria behind her like a shield.
“Luca! What is wrong with you? She’s like your sister! You’re yelling at her over some old piece of fabric?”
“I don’t want her touching Catrina’s stuff,” he growled.
Maria let out a quiet sob, eyes red, voice trembling. “I… I only did what Catrina asked me to. She told me she didn’t want anything from you anymore. She said to get rid of it all…”
Luca’s eyes narrowed. “Bullshit. Then why hasn’t she given back our wedding ring?”
Maria hesitated. “…She sold it.”
Luca’s breath caught. “What?”
Fiona stepped forward, fake concern on full display.
She patted his head like he was still a boy. “Oh, my poor son… now you see the truth. She never loved you. She took what she could, and now she’s gone. Thank God she didn’t take Dora too.”
Luca’s fists clenched at his sides.
