Chapter 2 - The Broken Plate
“ISABELLA!”
Alessandro went after her.
She moved fast through the hallway, heels striking the marble as she headed toward the main staircase.
“Stop.”
She did.
But she didn’t turn around.
Alessandro approached slowly.
“What did you put in my food?”
Isabella spun around.
Her face changed instantly.
Anger replaced fear.
“What?”
“You heard me.”
“Have you lost your mind?”
“Maybe you should answer the question.”
Her eyes filled with disbelief.
“You’re accusing me because of something a six-year-old said?”
Alessandro didn’t respond.
Isabella pointed toward the dining room.
“That child hates me.”
“Emma doesn’t hate anyone.”
“She doesn’t want you to marry me.”
“Why would she care?”
“Because everyone in this house treats her like she belongs here.”
Alessandro’s jaw tightened.
“She does belong here.”
Isabella laughed bitterly.
“There. Exactly.”
“What does that mean?”
“It means you trust a servant’s granddaughter more than your future wife.”
Teresa appeared at the end of the hallway.
“What happened?”
Emma ran toward her grandmother.
Isabella’s face hardened.
“Your granddaughter just accused me of trying to murder Alessandro.”
Teresa went still.
She looked down at Emma.
“Sweetheart?”
“I saw her, Grandma.”
Teresa’s eyes lifted toward Isabella.
Something strange passed over her face.
Not surprise.
Recognition.
Alessandro noticed.
“Teresa?”
The older woman swallowed.
“I think you need to call Dr. Harris.”
Isabella stared at her.
“What?”
Teresa looked at Alessandro.
“Don’t eat or drink anything else.”
That was enough.
Alessandro pulled out his phone.
Twenty minutes later, Dr. Benjamin Harris arrived at the estate.
He had treated the Romano family for fifteen years and knew better than to ask unnecessary questions.
Alessandro led him into the dining room.
“Nothing has been touched.”
Harris crouched beside the broken plate.
“Where’s the bread?”
Alessandro pointed.
The doctor placed on gloves.
Isabella stood in the doorway with her arms crossed.
“This is ridiculous.”
Harris carefully placed the bread into a sterile evidence bag.
“I’ll send it to a private toxicology lab.”
“How long?”
“A few hours for a preliminary screening.”
Isabella scoffed.
“You’re seriously doing this?”
Alessandro looked at her.
“Yes.”
Her expression hardened.
“Then maybe we shouldn’t get married.”
Emma looked up sharply.
Alessandro didn’t react.
“If that’s your answer to a question about poisoned food, maybe we shouldn’t.”
Isabella’s face changed.
“You don’t mean that.”
“I don’t know what I mean yet.”
She stepped closer.
“You said you trusted me.”
“I did.”
“Did?”
Alessandro looked directly into her eyes.
“Take the bread.”
“What?”
“Eat it.”
She stared at him.
“Alessandro—”
“If you’re innocent, prove it.”
Isabella’s voice dropped.
“You’re humiliating me.”
“No. I’m asking you to take one bite of food you expected me to eat.”
Her mouth opened.
Nothing came out.
Harris looked away.
Teresa held Emma close.
Finally, Isabella grabbed her purse.
“I won’t stay in a house where I’m treated like a criminal.”
She stormed toward the front entrance.
Alessandro followed.
“Where are you going?”
“To my sister’s.”
“Leave your phone.”
She turned.
“What?”
“You heard me.”
“You have no right.”
“Then go.”
Isabella stared at him for several seconds.
Then she walked out.
The front door slammed.
Alessandro exhaled slowly.
His phone rang three hours later.
Dr. Harris.
Alessandro answered immediately.
“What did they find?”
The doctor was silent for a moment.
“That bread contained digoxin.”
Alessandro gripped the phone.
He knew the name.
Heart medication.
Dangerous in the wrong amount.
“How much?”
“Enough to make you extremely sick.”
“And more?”
Harris hesitated.
“With repeated doses, it could kill you.”
Alessandro looked toward Emma.
She was coloring quietly at the kitchen table.
His chest tightened.
“Ben, don’t tell anyone.”
“I won’t.”
Alessandro ended the call.
Then he noticed something.
Emma’s chair was empty.
Her crayons were still on the table.
Rosie, her stuffed rabbit, lay on the floor.
“Emma?”
No answer.
Alessandro ran into the hallway.
“EMMA!”
Teresa came rushing from upstairs.
“What?”
“Where is she?”
Teresa looked around.
“I thought she was with you.”
Alessandro stared at the open back door.
May you like
And lying just outside it—
were three hundred-dollar bills.
