Chapter 2 - THE CALL
Rosa moved before Julian could stop her.
At sixty-two, she usually crossed the house with careful, tired steps. Now she ran.
Julian started after her, but the catering assistant planted herself between him and Elena.
“The ambulance is coming,” she said.
“What’s your name?”
“Maya.”
“Well, Maya, you’re fired.”
“I don’t work for you.”
Elena almost laughed. The sound came out as a broken breath.
Chloe leaned toward Julian.
“Guests will be here in twenty minutes.”
“My wife is having another episode.”
Maya knelt beside Elena.
“How far apart are the cramps?”
“I don’t know.”
“Okay. You don’t have to know.”
That simple kindness nearly undid her.
Rosa returned holding the cedar box against her chest. Julian reached for it.
Rosa stepped back.
“No, sir.”
He stared at her.
In three years, Elena had never heard Rosa tell him no.
Inside the box lay letters tied with a blue ribbon, a photograph of Elena’s mother, and a small black phone.
Her father had given it to her before the wedding.
One number. No questions.
Julian stared at the device.
“You’ve been hiding a phone?”
Elena pressed the button.
It rang once.
“Elena?”
Her father’s voice sounded older than she remembered.
She tried to say hello.
Instead, she whispered, “Daddy.”
The word changed everything.
“What happened?”
She looked at Julian. At Chloe’s impatient face. At the flowers beneath her knees.
“I need help.”
“Where are you?”
“At the house. An ambulance is coming.”
A pause.
Not hesitation. Control.
“Are you alone?”
“No.”
“Give the phone to someone who is helping you.”
Elena handed it to Maya.
The girl listened, nodded, and gave the address.
Sirens rose beyond the gates.
Julian straightened his jacket.
By the time the paramedics reached the terrace, his voice had softened.
“My wife got dizzy. I told her to sit down, but she insisted on picking these up.”
Elena watched him build the lie effortlessly.
A paramedic crouched beside her.
“Is that what happened?”
Julian answered.
“Yes.”
The paramedic kept looking at Elena.
“I’m asking her.”
Elena’s hands shook.
“No,” she said.
One small word.
Three years overdue.
As they helped her onto the stretcher, Julian caught her sleeve.
“Think carefully about what you’re doing.”
She pulled free.
At the ambulance doors, Maya returned the black phone.
Her father was still on the line.
“I’m coming,” he said.
Behind Elena, Julian called out, “Who exactly is your father?”
She met his eyes.
May you like
“Gabriel Moretti.”
Julian’s face lost its color before the doors closed.
