Chapter 1 - THE SUITCASE THAT SHOULD NEVER HAVE ARRIVED
# The Mafia Boss's Fiancée Pushed a Pregnant Maid to the Floor—Then the Maid Revealed Why She Refused to Open the Suitcase
“GIVE ME THAT SUITCASE!” THE MAFIA BOSS'S FIANCÉE SCREAMED, SHOVING HIS SEVEN-MONTH-PREGNANT MAID TO THE FLOOR. THE YOUNG WOMAN CURLED AROUND HER BELLY, REFUSING TO RELEASE THE CASE. BUT WHEN THE MAFIA BOSS DISCOVERED WHAT SHE WAS PROTECTING, HE REALIZED SOMEONE HAD SENT HIM THE BELONGINGS OF HIS WIFE—WHO HAD VANISHED THREE YEARS EARLIER.
The suitcase hit the carpet with a heavy thud.
Emily Carter fell beside it.
One hand immediately covered her pregnant belly.
“Please, ma'am! My baby!”
Vanessa Sterling stood over her, furious.
“I told you to give it to me!”
Emily clutched the handle.
“I can't. It isn't yours.”
Vanessa reached down to grab it again.
“VANESSA!”
Luca Moretti rose from the dining table.
He hurried across the room and knelt beside Emily.
“Are you hurt?”
Emily's eyes filled with tears.
“My stomach hurts a little, sir.”
Luca's face hardened.
He helped her into a chair and ordered a guard to call for medical assistance.
Then he turned toward his fiancée.
“You pushed a pregnant woman?”
Vanessa folded her arms.
“She stole that suitcase!”
Emily shook her head.
“No, sir. Someone gave it to me.”
Luca looked at the case.
“Who?”
“A woman at St. Catherine's Hospital.”
Vanessa suddenly went pale.
“Emily, don't say another word.”
Luca slowly turned.
“Why?”
Vanessa pointed at the suitcase.
“Because it contains private things!”
“Whose private things?”
She couldn't answer.
Luca knelt beside the case.
“Emily, may I open it?”
The maid hesitated.
Then whispered:
“The woman said only you should open it.”
Luca carefully released the locks.
Inside were folded dresses, a cream-colored cardigan, and a pair of worn leather gloves.
He recognized the cardigan immediately.
His wife, Isabella, had worn it the morning she disappeared.
Three years earlier.
Luca slowly lifted it.
“No…”
Beneath the clothing lay several envelopes tied with blue ribbon.
All addressed to him.
LUCA MORETTI.
His hands began trembling.
Vanessa rushed forward.
“DON'T READ THOSE!”
Luca stepped back.
“Why not?”
“Because Isabella was unstable before she disappeared!”
Emily looked up sharply.
“That's not what the woman at the hospital said.”
Luca turned.
“What did she say?”
Emily swallowed.
“She said your wife left those things behind because she was afraid someone would find them.”
Luca picked up the first envelope.
The handwriting was unmistakable.
Isabella's.
Emily's voice broke.
“She said you would recognize her handwriting.”
For several seconds, Luca couldn't speak.
Then he opened the letter.
My love,
If these belongings ever reach you, please understand that I didn't leave because I stopped loving you.
I left because someone made me believe staying would put you in danger.
Luca stopped reading.
He looked toward Vanessa.
“You told me Isabella ran away with another man.”
Vanessa began crying.
“That's what everyone believed!”
Luca looked down at the letter.
I tried to tell you the truth, but someone intercepted my messages.
Please find the woman who helped me at St. Catherine's. She knows what happened the night I disappeared.
Luca turned toward Emily.
“What was the woman's name?”
“Margaret Ellis.”
Vanessa staggered backward.
Luca noticed.
“You know her?”
Vanessa shook her head.
“No.”
Emily whispered:
“Mrs. Sterling visited her at the hospital yesterday.”
The room fell silent.
Luca slowly faced Vanessa.
“WHY WERE YOU VISITING THE WOMAN WHO KEPT MY WIFE'S BELONGINGS?”
Vanessa covered her mouth.
Then Emily reached toward the suitcase.
“Sir, there's one more thing.”
She lifted a small photograph from beneath the lining.
It showed Isabella standing outside St. Catherine's Hospital.
The photograph was dated just four months earlier.
Luca stared.
His wife had been alive long after she disappeared.
And someone had known.
He turned the photograph over.
On the back, Isabella had written:
“LUCA, IF YOU FIND THIS, ASK VANESSA WHAT HAPPENED IN ROOM 214.”
Luca slowly raised his eyes.
Vanessa was trembling.
He stepped toward her.
“VANESSA… WHAT HAPPENED IN ROOM 214?”
She whispered:
“Luca, please. You don't understand.”
“Then tell me.”
Her voice broke.
“That's the room where Isabella found out why she had to disappear.”
Luca froze.
And Emily quietly added:
May you like
“Sir… the woman who gave me the suitcase said Isabella might still be there.”
Read Chapter 2 in the first comment to discover what happened inside Room 214—and why Vanessa was desperate to stop Luca from receiving his missing wife's letters. Thank you for reading!
