Chapter 4

After Annie lost those privileges, even the simplest parts of her life became a struggle. She had to ask Luca for permission just to see a doctor or continue her lessons.

"Annie, Daddy doesn't like liars. Tell me. Did you steal the ring?"

Under the constant pressure, Annie finally broke. She burst into tears and started slapping herself across the face over and over.

"I'm a bad kid! I stole the ring! I'm a bad kid! I stole the ring..."

Bright red handprints appeared on her small face.

Annie was falling apart, but Luca just stood there and watched.

Only after Annie admitted to her supposed "wrongdoing" did Luca reluctantly restore some of her privileges, as if he were doing her a favor.

Another time, I was on my knees in the living room, pleading with Luca on Annie's behalf, when Olivia walked past me. Though I never touched her, she suddenly threw herself to the floor and scraped her palm.

"Luca, I'm sure Sophia didn't mean it... it was just me being clumsy..."

Olivia smiled smugly as Luca kicked me in the stomach. I blacked out from the pain and woke in the middle of the night to the sound of my daughter quietly sobbing.

"Mommy! Please wake up... it's all Annie's fault... it's all Annie's fault!"

I held Annie tightly. I was close to breaking down, and I closed my eyes in shame.

I couldn't believe I had chosen such a foolish husband, a man who put outsiders before his own family.

Olivia had suffered, so apparently that gave her the right to depend on my husband.

Emma had suffered, so that gave her the right to take away the love Annie deserved from her father.

Luca acted as if keeping a promise to his late best friend gave him the right to mistreat his own wife and daughter year after year.

My phone suddenly rang.

The caller's voice was sharp and distorted by a voice changer.

"Is this... Annie's mother... Mrs. Romano?"

"Yes. Who is this?" I immediately tensed.

"You don't need to know who... who I am. I just wanted to... to tell you... at last month's charity gala, Miss Annie was bullied!"

The caller hung up. Seconds later, a video arrived on my phone.

"Annie, you idiot! There's no way you painted something that good! You only did it to make me look bad! Why don't you just die? If you were dead, Uncle Luca would be my daddy!"

In the video, Emma screamed at Annie as she ripped apart the painting Annie had prepared for the charity gala. Then she yanked off Annie's dress and pinched her waist and thighs until red welts covered her skin. Olivia stood guard at the door, making sure no one came in.

I trembled with rage, but a chill ran down my spine, and sweat covered my back. I couldn't believe a child of eight or nine could say something so cruel and do something so vicious.

"Annie... my sweet Annie..."

At the end of the video, Annie was curled up in the corner with her arms around herself. Her eyes were empty, and she looked far too broken for an eight-year-old child.

Only then did I realize that whenever I wasn't there to protect her, Annie had been suffering in silence.

I still remembered what happened at the charity gala. When Annie couldn't present her painting, everyone mocked and scolded her for not taking such an important event seriously.

Luca made her kneel in front of the entire ballroom. I rushed to help her up, but a guard blocked me and hit me on the back of the neck with his baton. I blacked out on the spot.

That night, Rosa Conti, the estate's former housekeeper, had already contacted Niccolo Romano, vice chairman of the Council, hoping he would step in.

But Niccolo was away in Cassili, leading a turf war, and communications were down.

By the time he returned to the estate, it was too late to stop it. After that day, Annie never picked up a paintbrush again.

I pressed a hand to my chest as a sharp pain tore through me.

Then the anonymous caller sent another video. This one proved that Annie had never stolen the crest ring.

But the truth came too late.

Annie had not lived long enough to see her name cleared.

I texted back, "Thank you. It's too late, but I will clear Annie's name."

The reply came at once. "Mrs. Romano, what do you mean?"

I wrote, "Annie is dead."

There was no reply for a long time. Then my phone rang.

"Annie... Miss Annie is dead? How could that be..."

This time, the voice changer was gone. An older woman spoke slowly, her voice trembling with disbelief.

I recognized her immediately. It was Rosa Conti, the Romano estate's former housekeeper.

She had served the Romano Family for decades, and she was one of the few people on the estate who had always treated Annie with kindness.

I sent her Annie's death certificate. What came back was a heavy sigh of grief and quiet sobbing.

Rosa told me that after the charity gala, Luca had confiscated every copy of the security footage.

While she was sorting through the recordings, she had secretly made a copy.

Afraid of being caught, she divided the video into several files and hid them in the garden flowerbeds, the chapel safe, and a storage room in the guest house.

"I will explain everything to the former Don. Whatever you want to do, ma'am... do it."