Chapter 4

I had just reached the staircase when Sophia suddenly cried out behind me.

“Wait! The ring Dario gave me is missing!”

She frantically searched through her handbag, then rushed back to the table and looked around again.

Finally, her eyes landed on my suitcase. The panic on her face slowly gave way to hesitation.

“I clearly remember leaving the ring on the table, but it was gone after Evelyn finished packing.”

Lorenzo’s expression darkened instantly. His eyes fell on my suitcase.

“Open it.”

I stopped and turned to him, almost unable to believe what I had just heard.

“Why do you suspect me? Is it just because of one accusation from her?”

Lorenzo did not answer. He simply held out his hand and replied in a cold voice, “Take everything out. I’m going to search for it.”

From the day I came to the De Luca family, they had never treated me with suspicion. I had unrestricted access to every door, every safe, and even the family’s most confidential financial records.

Now, simply because Sophia had accused me without a shred of evidence, they treated me like a criminal who needed to be searched.

“What if I refuse?”

I looked at Lorenzo. My voice had gone cold.

Dario had already lost his patience. He snatched my suitcase away and dumped everything onto the floor.

Clothes spilled everywhere. Several books hit the corner of the wall. Everything I had just carefully packed was thrown into complete disarray.

Then a diamond ring rolled out.

Sophia covered her mouth, her eyes instantly filling with tears.

“Evelyn, if you didn’t like seeing me wear it, you could have just told me. Why did you have to secretly take it?”

“I didn’t take the ring!” My mind went completely blank.

“It fell out of your suitcase, yet you’re still trying to deny it?”

Lorenzo stepped in front of Sophia protectively. The next second, the sharp crack of a slap rang through the hall.

My face snapped to the side from the impact, and my body slammed hard against the wall. A high-pitched ringing filled my ears.

There was a metallic taste in my mouth. I touched the corner of my lips, and my fingertips came away stained with blood.

Every maid nearby lowered their heads. Not one of them dared to speak.

I could only stare at Lorenzo in stunned silence, forgetting the pain in my face entirely.

That was the first time he had ever hit me.

Lorenzo seemed to be stunned by his own actions, too. His eyes fell on the blood at the corner of my mouth, and his expression shifted. He instinctively reached toward me.

“Evelyn, I—”

“It’s fine.”

I wiped away the blood and stepped out of his hand’s reach.

I would consider that slap payment for the debt I owed the De Luca family for saving me all those years ago.

From this moment on, neither of us owed the other anything.

However, Dario stepped in front of me, blocking my way. “If you don’t apologize to Sophia in front of everyone today, you’re not leaving this house!”

His expression brought back the memory of a family banquet years ago.

At the time, the Serra family had been going through a difficult period, and a representative from another family deliberately humiliated me in front of everyone.

He poured an entire glass of wine over my dress, then laughed and told me to pour him another drink myself as an apology.

Dario had been the first to step forward. He pressed a gun to the man’s forehead and forced him to kneel and apologize to me.

Lorenzo went even further. He canceled every business deal between our families on the spot and never allowed that man to set foot in any Serra family property again.

That night, they stood on either side of me and said, “With us here, no one can ever force you to bow your head.”

Now, they would not even listen to a single word of my explanation.

I glanced at Sophia, hiding in Lorenzo’s arms.

“I never touched that ring. I refuse to accept this accusation!”

Dario’s face darkened completely.

“Evelyn, don’t make me get rough with you.”

I did not look at him again. I simply dragged my suitcase past him.

The main doors slowly closed behind me. This time, I did not look back.

Once I was in the car, I gave the driver a single instruction.

“Take me to Victoria’s.”