Chapter 2: The Price of a Brother's Life
PART 2 ⬇️
Margaret didn't wait for an answer.
"The surgery costs more than you earn in two years," she said.
"We both know that."
Maeve's grip tightened on the basket.
"What are you asking me to do?"
"Nothing criminal." Margaret's voice was smooth.
"Elias Marchetti needs a companion.
Someone patient.
Warm.
Someone who makes him feel cared for while we arrange a quiet exit from the engagement."
"You want me to pretend."
"I want you to be kind to a man in a wheelchair.
That's all."
Sienna was already sliding the ring back across the counter toward her mother.
"She's perfect," Sienna said.
"Plain enough to be invisible.
Gentle enough to be believable."
Maeve felt the words land like a sl@p.
"And when he finds out?"
Margaret smiled again.
"Men like Elias Marchetti don't fall for housekeepers, Maeve.
You'll be gone before he ever asks your last name."
She was wrong about that.
She was wrong about almost everything.
What Margaret didn't know — what none of them knew — was that Gabriel Ferraro had been standing outside that same kitchen window for the last four minutes.
And his phone had been recording the entire conversation.
---
May you like
What Gabriel did with that recording changed everything Elias thought he knew — about the test, about Maeve, and about how far the Ashfords were truly willing to go.
Click the link below to read the full story.
