Chapter 6 - The Little HeroineWhile the high-society guests backed away in horror and whispered frantically among themselves, the heavy double doors of the library at the end of the hall creaked open just an inch.
A tiny pair of yellow socks stepped cautiously across the threshold.
Mia Carter peered into the grand ballroom, clutching Mr. Whiskers tightly under one arm. She looked up at the towering chandeliers, then at the circle of stern-faced men surrounding Dr. Keene and Vanessa.
Her big brown eyes widened when she saw Lorenzo standing tall, holding his gold-tipped canes.
"Uncle Lorenzo?" her small voice piped up, cutting cleanly through the heavy tension in the room.
Every eye in the ballroom shifted instantly toward the little girl.
Vanessa, still kneeling on the floor in her emerald gown, glared at the child with sudden, venomous hatred. If it hadn't been for this stupid kid picking up that stupid pill, none of this would have happened.
"Get that brat out of here!" Vanessa screamed, her mask entirely slipping.
Before anyone could move, Lorenzo dropped one of his canes. It clattered loudly against the marble floor. He didn't need it anymore—the adrenaline and raw, surging fury had unlocked every last dormant nerve in his lower body.
He walked—not steadily, but with fierce, unyielding determination—past the stunned guests, past Marco and the pinned doctor, straight toward the small girl standing by the doorway.
He knelt down on one knee, bringing himself down to her eye level.
Mia looked at him, then down at his legs, and then up into his face with a bright, gap-toothed smile.
"See?" Mia whispered proudly. "I told you your feet weren't broken. They were just sleeping."
A genuine, warm smile broke across Lorenzo Bellandi’s face—the first real smile he had shown the world in six years.
He reached out and gently patted her head. "You were right, princess. They were just sleeping. And you woke them up."
Sophie Carter rushed out from the service hallway, her face white as a sheet, grabbing Mia by the hand. "Mr. Bellandi, I am so sorry—I didn't know she wandered out here—"
"Sophie," Lorenzo interrupted, standing back up to his full, commanding height. "From this moment on, you are no longer a housekeeper in this house."
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Sophie froze, her heart dropping into her stomach. "Mr. Bellandi, please, don't fire me—"
"You're not fired," Lorenzo said smoothly, turning to face his paralyzed empire and his terrified guests. "You are the new Chief Director of the Bellandi Foundation. And your daughter... gets whatever she wants in this house, for the rest of her life."
