Chapter 4 - THE SURVIVOR AND THE CHILDAn hour later, the main drawing room of the mansion blazed with chandelier lights, yet the atmosphere felt like an execution court. The core members of the Moretti family had been summoned immediately.
Among them, standing out in his tailored suit, was Lucas Moretti—Alejandro’s half-brother. Lucas maintained an air of elegant concern, his face painted with dramatic worry.
"Brother, thank God you are alright!" Lucas stepped forward, his voice choked with emotion. "Who could have done such a monstrous thing inside our own home?"
Alejandro sat in the master chair, legs crossed, his dark gaze cutting through every person in the room. Emma stood right beside his chair, still clutching her plush rabbit.
"The killer is very close to us, Lucas," Alejandro said calmly, his voice cold as ice. "And he thinks he erased every trace."
Lucas offered a faint, sympathetic smile. "But how did a four-year-old maid's child happen to be in your study at that exact moment? Could it be… that her mother was paid by someone to stage this heroic rescue?"
A vicious strike. Lucas instantly redirected suspicion toward Elena—an undocumented servant with a vague past.
Elena stood in the corner, her face draining of color, unable to speak against a Moretti.
Alejandro didn't take the bait. Instead, he turned his chair and leaned down toward Emma. Before the stunned eyes of everyone in the room, the ruthless tycoon slipped the hawk signet ring off his finger—the ultimate symbol of family authority—and placed it gently into Emma’s tiny palm.
"From this day forth," Alejandro declared, his voice ringing through the hall, "this child and her mother are under my personal protection. Anyone who touches a single hair on their heads declares war on me."
Gasps echoed through the room. Lucas’s polite smile faltered for a fraction of a second, his eyes darkening.
As the meeting adjourned, Lucas walked down the dimly lit hallway. He paused when he saw Emma sitting on a bench waiting for her mother.
Lucas crouched down, pulling a gold-wrapped candy from his pocket, offering it to Emma with a warm, gentle smile. "You were very brave tonight, little girl. Would you like a chocolate?"
Emma looked at the shiny wrapper, her innocent eyes lighting up as she reached out her hand.
SLAP!
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A hand shot out from behind, knocking the candy violently out of Lucas's grip. It smashed against the wall, shattering into pieces across the marble floor.
Alejandro stepped out from the shadows, his eyes filled with lethal fury as he glared down at his brother.
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