Chapter 3 - The Maid’s Gamble
The kitchen of the Moretti estate was a chaotic blur of steam and panic.
Elra had wrapped Leo and Mia in heavy wool chef blankets she’d ripped off the laundry rack, frantically rubbing their icy arms to restore circulation. Mia was crying softly, her teeth chattering so hard she couldn't form words. Leo was barely responsive, his eyes glazed over as the first stages of severe hypothermia set in.
"Listen to me, babies," Elra whispered, her voice cracking with suppressed rage and fear. "You're going to be okay. I've got you."
"She... she put us in the dark," Leo whispered, a tear freezing on his cheek. "The bad lady... she said we were baggage."
Elra’s jaw clenched so hard her teeth ached. Isabella Thorne. The future queen of the North Side. A woman who looked like an angel and had the soul of a butcher.
"Elra! What the hell is going on in here?!"
Mr. Henderson, the catering manager, burst through the kitchen doors, his face red with fury. He stopped dead in his tracks when he saw the two children wrapped in blankets, shivering on the stainless-steel floor, and the broken padlock on the freezer door.
"What did you do?!" Henderson shrieked, rushing forward. "Are you out of your mind?! Do you know whose kids those are?! If Mr. Moretti finds out—"
"Mr. Moretti is going to find out," Elra interrupted, standing up to her full height. Her dark eyes, usually kept meekly on the floor, were now blazing with a terrifying intensity. "Someone locked these children in a sub-zero freezer to freeze to death. Do you have any idea what happens if we keep our mouths shut? They die."
"We are caterers, Elra! We pack up and we leave!" Henderson grabbed her arm, trying to pull her away. "You want to cross Lorenzo Moretti? You want to end up floating in Lake Michigan by morning? Leave them!"
Elra looked down at Mia, who reached out a tiny, blue-tinged hand and clutched the hem of Elra’s apron.
Slowly, deliberately, Elra peeled Henderson’s hand off her arm.
May you like
"No," Elra said quietly. "I'm not leaving."
She didn't wait for Henderson to respond. Turning on her heel, she scooped Mia up into her arms, grabbed Leo’s hand, and marched straight out of the service kitchen and toward the grand double doors of the ballroom.
