Chapter 1 - THE PAGE THAT COULD DESTROY A FAMILY
“GIVE ME THAT NOTEBOOK!” THE MAFIA BOSS'S FIANCÉE SCREAMED, SNATCHING A SMALL BLACK JOURNAL FROM HIS MAID AND THROWING IT INTO THE FIREPLACE. BUT THE MAID DIDN'T SCREAM OR TRY TO SAVE IT. SHE SIMPLY WATCHED THE PAGES BURN AND SAID, “THE PAGE YOU WANTED ISN'T THERE.” WHEN THE MAFIA BOSS DISCOVERED WHERE PAGE 47 HAD GONE, HIS FIANCÉE BEGAN TREMBLING—BECAUSE IT CONNECTED HER TO THE DISAPPEARANCE OF HIS CHIEF ACCOUNTANT.
“YOU'VE BEEN SPYING ON ME!”
Vanessa Sterling's scream echoed through the Moretti mansion.
Clara Hayes stood beside the fireplace, holding a small black notebook.
She was twenty-six, dressed in a simple black-and-white maid's uniform.
Her expression remained calm.
“No, ma'am. I've been keeping records.”
Vanessa stepped closer.
“Records of what?”
“Household deliveries. Visitors. Maintenance requests.”
“LIAR!”
Vanessa grabbed the notebook.
Clara didn't resist.
Instead, she quietly lowered her hands.
Vanessa flipped through the pages.
Her eyes moved rapidly.
Page 39.
Page 42.
Page 45.
Then she stopped.
Her face changed.
“Where is it?”
Clara looked at her.
“Where is what, ma'am?”
Vanessa turned another page.
Then another.
“WHERE IS PAGE FORTY-SEVEN?”
Clara didn't answer.
Vanessa's face twisted with rage.
She marched toward the fireplace.
“YOU THINK YOU CAN BLACKMAIL ME?”
She hurled the notebook into the flames.
WHOOSH!
The pages caught fire immediately.
Blackened paper curled around the burning logs.
Vanessa turned triumphantly.
“There. Now let's see what you can prove.”
Clara watched the flames.
She didn't cry.
Didn't move.
Didn't even raise her voice.
Then she said quietly:
“THE PAGE YOU WANTED ISN'T THERE.”
Vanessa froze.
“What?”
Clara looked directly at her.
“PAGE 47 IS MISSING.”
A deep voice interrupted them.
“What's going on here?”
Dominic Moretti stood in the doorway.
The thirty-eight-year-old mafia boss had returned from his study after hearing the shouting.
His eyes moved from Vanessa to the burning notebook.
“Why is Clara's journal in my fireplace?”
Vanessa immediately rushed toward him.
“Dominic! Thank God you're here!”
She pointed at Clara.
“She's been collecting information about our private business!”
Dominic looked at the maid.
“Clara?”
Clara folded her hands.
“I was keeping a household log, sir.”
Vanessa laughed.
“A household log? She was writing down our phone calls!”
Dominic frowned.
“Why?”
Clara answered calmly.
“Because Mr. Bennett disappeared.”
The room fell silent.
Dominic's expression hardened.
Arthur Bennett had been the Moretti family's chief accountant for eighteen years.
Six weeks earlier, he had vanished without warning.
His car had been discovered near an abandoned warehouse.
His phone was missing.
And his office had been emptied.
Dominic had spent weeks searching for him.
“What does Arthur have to do with this notebook?” he asked.
Clara looked toward the fire.
“Everything, sir.”
Vanessa grabbed Dominic's arm.
“She's making this up!”
Clara continued.
“Mr. Bennett asked me to record unusual visitors and late-night deliveries while he was reviewing the estate accounts.”
Dominic stared.
“Arthur asked you?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Why didn't he tell me?”
“He said he needed to confirm something first.”
Vanessa stepped forward.
“SHE'S LYING!”
Clara looked at her.
“Then why did you ask specifically about page forty-seven?”
Vanessa stopped.
Dominic slowly turned.
“What page?”
Clara answered.
“The page Mrs. Sterling tried to find before she burned my notebook.”
Dominic looked at Vanessa.
“Why forty-seven?”
Vanessa forced a laugh.
“I didn't! She's twisting my words!”
Clara remained still.
“You turned directly to it, ma'am.”
Dominic's voice grew colder.
“Vanessa. What was on that page?”
She shook her head.
“I don't know!”
Clara spoke quietly.
“I do.”
Vanessa's eyes widened.
Clara reached into her apron.
But Vanessa suddenly lunged toward her.
“DON'T YOU DARE!”
Dominic caught Vanessa's wrist.
“Enough!”
Clara calmly removed a folded envelope.
She placed it on the coffee table.
“Page forty-seven was removed three days ago.”
Dominic picked up the envelope.
“Where is the original?”
“With Mr. Bennett's attorney, sir.”
Vanessa's face drained of color.
Dominic looked up.
“His attorney?”
Clara nodded.
“Mr. Samuel Whitmore. I sent it by registered courier.”
Vanessa began shaking.
“You had no right!”
Clara looked at her.
“It wasn't your notebook, ma'am.”
Dominic opened the envelope.
Inside was a photocopy.
At the top, written in Clara's neat handwriting, were the words:
HOUSEHOLD LOG — PAGE 47.
Below was a date.
SEPTEMBER 12 — 10:43 P.M.
Dominic's expression changed.
That was the night before Arthur Bennett disappeared.
He read aloud.
“Mrs. Vanessa Sterling requested an urgent transfer from the Moretti family reserve account.”
Vanessa stepped backward.
Dominic continued.
“Amount: four million eight hundred thousand dollars.”
His jaw tightened.
He looked at Vanessa.
“YOU REQUESTED A $4.8 MILLION TRANSFER?”
She shook her head.
“Dominic, I can explain!”
“To whom?”
“It was a legitimate investment!”
“Then why wasn't I informed?”
Vanessa couldn't answer.
Clara quietly pointed to the next entry.
Dominic read it.
11:06 P.M. — Mr. Bennett arrived unexpectedly and demanded the transfer be stopped.
11:14 P.M. — Mrs. Sterling instructed security not to admit Mr. Bennett to Mr. Moretti's study.
11:22 P.M. — Loud argument heard near the underground garage.
Dominic froze.
He remembered that night.
Vanessa had told him Arthur was sick and had gone home early.
But according to Clara's notebook, Arthur had been inside the mansion.
Arguing with Vanessa.
Just hours before disappearing.
Dominic slowly raised his eyes.
“YOU TOLD ME ARTHUR NEVER CAME HERE THAT NIGHT.”
Vanessa's lips trembled.
“I was protecting you.”
“From what?”
“From something you wouldn't understand!”
Dominic stepped closer.
“Try me.”
Vanessa began crying.
Clara spoke again.
“Sir, there's another entry.”
Dominic looked down.
11:37 P.M. — Black SUV departed through west service gate. Driver unidentified. Rear passenger door opened briefly before departure.
He stared at the words.
The west gate was normally locked after ten.
Only senior household staff and authorized family members had access.
Dominic looked toward Vanessa.
“Who opened the west gate?”
She shook her head.
“I don't remember.”
Clara answered calmly.
“The gate access log does.”
Vanessa's expression changed.
Dominic turned.
“What?”
Clara continued.
“Mr. Bennett asked me to preserve a copy of the security records if anything unusual happened.”
Vanessa suddenly grabbed a crystal vase.
“STOP TALKING!”
She hurled it toward the coffee table.
CRASH!
Glass exploded across the marble floor.
Clara stepped backward.
Dominic immediately moved between them.
“VANESSA! THAT'S ENOUGH!”
Vanessa was breathing heavily.
“She wants to destroy our engagement!”
Clara didn't react.
Instead, she looked at Dominic.
“Sir, Mr. Whitmore also has the gate log.”
Vanessa froze.
Dominic stared at her.
For the first time, his fiancée looked genuinely frightened.
He turned toward his security chief, Marcus, who had rushed into the room.
“Get Whitmore on the phone.”
Vanessa grabbed his sleeve.
“Dominic, please!”
He pulled away.
“Don't touch me.”
Marcus dialed.
A moment later, he handed Dominic the phone.
“Mr. Whitmore is on the line.”
Dominic pressed it to his ear.
“Samuel. I understand you received something from my maid.”
The attorney's voice was grave.
“Yes, Mr. Moretti.”
“Page forty-seven?”
“And the security records.”
Dominic glanced at Vanessa.
“What did you find?”
A pause.
Then Whitmore answered:
“The transfer was completed at 10:58 p.m.”
Dominic frowned.
“Before Arthur arrived?”
“Yes.”
“Where did the money go?”
Whitmore hesitated.
“To a holding company registered under a false director's name.”
Dominic's eyes narrowed.
“Whose company?”
“We're still confirming the beneficial owner. But that's not why I wanted to speak with you.”
Dominic felt his stomach tighten.
“Then why?”
Whitmore lowered his voice.
“Arthur Bennett left a sealed statement with me two days before he disappeared.”
Dominic went still.
“What statement?”
“He instructed me to release it if he failed to contact me for thirty days.”
“Why wasn't I told?”
“Someone submitted a forged notice claiming Arthur had withdrawn the instruction. Clara's records helped us establish that the notice was fraudulent.”
Dominic slowly turned toward Vanessa.
She was standing motionless beside the fireplace.
Whitmore continued.
“I've now opened the statement.”
Dominic swallowed.
“What does it say?”
The attorney paused.
“Arthur believed someone inside your household was moving money to finance an operation against your family.”
Dominic's face hardened.
“Who?”
“He didn't name the person. But he identified the account and warned that whoever controlled it would try to silence him.”
Dominic stared at Vanessa.
The woman he planned to marry.
The woman who had just tried to destroy the notebook.
The woman who knew exactly which page was missing.
Whitmore spoke again.
“Mr. Moretti, there's one more thing.”
“What?”
“Arthur left instructions about a storage locker near the warehouse where his car was found.”
Dominic's heart began pounding.
“What instructions?”
“He said that if he disappeared, you should check it before confronting anyone.”
Dominic looked toward the fireplace.
The last pieces of Clara's notebook were turning to ash.
But page forty-seven was safe.
So was the security log.
And now, somewhere outside the mansion, there was a locker containing whatever Arthur had feared enough to hide.
Dominic ended the call.
Vanessa looked at him desperately.
“Darling, please. You know I love you.”
He didn't answer.
He placed the photocopy on the table.
Then looked directly into her eyes.
“WHAT HAPPENED ON THE NIGHT OF THAT TRANSFER?”
Vanessa backed away.
“Dominic…”
He stepped closer.
“WHAT HAPPENED TO ARTHUR BENNETT?”
Her face crumpled.
“I didn't know they were going to take him!”
The room went silent.
Clara slowly looked up.
Dominic froze.
“THEY?”
Vanessa covered her mouth.
But it was too late.
Dominic's voice dropped to a whisper.
“VANESSA… WHO TOOK MY ACCOUNTANT?”
And for the first time that evening, Vanessa had no accusation left to make.
Only fear.
May you like
Read Chapter 2 in the first comment to discover who received the $4.8 million transfer, what Arthur Bennett hid inside the storage locker, and why Vanessa knew the exact page she needed to destroy. Thank you for reading!
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