Chapter 2 - The Forbidden Past
The truth was a ticking time bomb. Four years ago, Alina had been a high-ranking syndicate accountant’s assistant before a bloody internal betrayal wiped out her entire department. Lorenzo Morty had ordered the purge, believing her former boss was leaking intel to federal agents. Alina, pregnant, terrified, and desperate, had fled into the shadows, changing her name, dying her hair, and scrubbing away her identity.
When she finally ran out of money six months ago, she took the only job available: a maid in the very mansion of the man who had destroyed her old life. She had hoped to hide in plain sight. She had never expected Mia to inherit her father’s fearless, reckless curiosity.
"Four years ago," Alina whispered, her voice trembling but clear, "you wiped out the Castellano ledger team. You thought they were rats."
Lorenzo’s eyes narrowed instantly, a dangerous glint flashing in his blue gaze. "You were Castellano’s lead auditor."
"I was his assistant," Alina corrected, her chin lifting slightly despite her terror. "And I knew the books better than he did. I knew the leaks came from the inside—from your own inner circle, Lorenzo. But you didn't listen. You didn't investigate. You just burned everything down."
Silence fell like an anvil.
Lorenzo stared at her, his expression unreadable. The memory of that night surfaced—the smoke, the blood, the burning ledgers. He had executed Castellano for treason, but he had never found the true leak. And he certainly hadn't known that the quiet, submissive maid standing before him was the woman whose ghost had haunted the edges of his memory for years.
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"And the child?" Lorenzo’s voice dropped to an icy whisper. "Is she mine?"
"She was born eight months after the purge," Alina said, tears spilling over her lashes at last. "Do the math, Mr. Morty. If you want to kill us both for existing, do it now. But leave Mia out of your underworld wars."
