Chapter 7 - THE BRIDE WHO KNEW TOO MUCH
Bianca did not cry when Matteo showed her the forged contract.
She sat in the small drawing room with the curtains closed, perfectly dressed, hands folded in her lap.
For nearly a minute, she said nothing.
Then she whispered, “Marcus told me it was protection.”
Grace stood near the door with Dolores, while two independent investigators remained behind Matteo.
“What did he tell you?” Matteo asked.
“That your board was trying to weaken you. That Luca had discovered irregular transfers. That if something happened to you, hostile directors could seize the foundation.”
“And you believed him?”
“At first.”
“At first.”
Bianca looked away.
Matteo’s voice became quieter.
“When did you stop believing him?”
Her eyes filled.
“After Luca died.”
The room changed.
Dolores gripped the back of a chair.
Bianca continued.
“Marcus called me that night. He said Luca had been drinking and was angry. He said he took the mountain road too fast.”
“Before police notified us?” Matteo asked.
Bianca did not answer.
That was the answer.
Matteo’s face went still.
“You knew Marcus knew too soon.”
“Yes.”
“And you said nothing.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Bianca’s composure shattered.
“Because my father’s firm was already tied to the Blackridge contracts. Because Marcus told me if the payments were exposed, my father would go to prison. Because I was a coward.”
Dolores flinched at the same word she had used about herself.
Bianca looked at Grace.
“And then she arrived.”
Grace frowned.
“Marcus panicked because the dogs trusted you. He said they might lead you somewhere. I thought he was paranoid.”
“You planted the bracelet?” Grace asked.
Bianca’s silence lasted too long.
“Yes.”
Dolores turned away in disgust.
“I wanted you gone,” Bianca said. “I did not know he would hurt anyone.”
Grace’s voice remained level.
“You knew enough to be afraid of him.”
Bianca looked down.
Matteo removed his engagement ring and placed it on the table.
The small sound it made against the wood seemed louder than shouting.
“There will be no wedding.”
Bianca closed her eyes.
“I know.”
Police took a formal statement from her.
She agreed to cooperate.
Her father’s attorneys arrived before midnight.
The Moretti wedding was officially postponed in a press statement that cited “unforeseen family circumstances.”
Three hundred guests began cancelling travel.
Florists dismantled arrangements.
Caterers packed refrigerated trucks.
The estate looked like a theater after the audience had been told the show was over.
But Marcus still had not been found.
At 2:40 a.m., the power failed.
Emergency lights came on.
Then the west gate alarm sounded.
Security rushed toward it.
Grace woke to Titan growling beside her bed.
She had no idea how he entered the staff wing.
Nero was not with him.
Grace stood.
“Where’s Nero?”
Titan ran.
She followed.
The dog led her through the dark service corridor, down the back stairs, and into the ballroom.
Moonlight spilled through tall windows.
Rows of wedding chairs stood abandoned.
At the far end, Nero scratched furiously at the door to the flower storage room.
Grace opened it.
No one.
Nero ran to the rear wall and barked.
A vent grille hung loose.
Behind it was a maintenance passage.
“Of course this house has another tunnel,” Grace muttered.
She called Matteo.
No signal.
The power outage had disabled internal boosters.
She should have waited.
She knew that.
Then she heard Dolores scream somewhere below.
Grace crawled into the passage.
The dogs went first.
The tunnel descended behind the ballroom wall and emerged near the underground garage.
Dolores stood beside a black SUV with Marcus holding one arm around her shoulders.
He had a pistol in his other hand.
Grace stopped.
Titan and Nero froze.
Marcus looked tired.
Not wild.
That was worse.
“Go back,” he said.
Grace lifted her hands.
“Let her go.”
“You always talk like you belong here.”
“I belong wherever someone needs help.”
Marcus laughed bitterly.
“That is exactly the kind of thing rich people love poor people to say.”
Dolores shook her head.
“Marcus.”
“Don’t.”
“You were family.”
“I was useful.”
Her face broke.
“No. You were loved.”
Something moved in his expression.
Then disappeared.
Marcus looked at Grace.
“You ruined years of work because two dogs liked you.”
“No. You ruined years of work because you thought everyone was too afraid to look closely.”
His grip tightened.
Titan growled.
“Call them off.”
“They aren’t attacking.”
“They will.”
“Only if you make them.”
Marcus raised the gun.
The dogs tensed.
Grace spoke without looking away from him.
“Titan. Nero. Stay.”
They stayed.
Marcus’s face changed.
He had spent two years teaching them fear.
Grace had taught them trust in days.
That was the moment he lost control.
He shoved Dolores away and aimed toward Titan.
Matteo’s voice exploded from the tunnel.
“Drop it!”
Marcus spun.
Nero lunged—not at his arm, but at his legs.
Marcus fell.
The gun slid across the concrete.
Titan planted himself between Marcus and Grace, barking hard but never biting.
Security officers flooded the garage.
Dolores collapsed against Grace.
Matteo crossed the floor and kicked the weapon away.
Marcus lay on the ground, staring at the dogs.
“They were supposed to be broken,” he whispered.
Grace looked down at him.
“They were scared.”
He laughed once.
“That’s the same thing.”
“No,” she said. “It never was.”
Police handcuffed him.
As they took him away, Marcus looked at Matteo.
“Ask your brother why he kept copies.”
Matteo stepped forward.
“My brother is dead.”
Marcus smiled.
“Then ask why his locker key was used three months ago.”
The garage went silent.
Dolores stared at him.
Matteo’s face changed.
Marcus was pulled into the elevator.
Grace looked toward Matteo.
“Three months ago?”
He said nothing.
Because for the first time, the mystery had moved beyond the past.
May you like
Someone else had been inside Luca’s locker.
Recently.
