Chapter 5 - The Gathering Storm
The winter frost finally began to loosen its grip on Chicago, but inside the Moretti penthouse, the atmosphere grew colder and more poisonous by the day.
Valentina’s health had been steadily declining, though she brushed off her dizzy spells and sudden fatigue as mere old age. I spent every spare moment by her side, reading to her from old Italian leather-bound books and brewing her favorite herbal tonics. But I noticed subtle, disturbing discrepancies. The medicinal bottles in her private bathroom were being mysteriously misplaced, and the herbal blends in the pantry tasted faintly bitter, completely different from the sweet chamomile I ordered for her.
One evening, while clearing the dining room after a tense dinner party where Celeste had glared at me across the table with naked malice, I found a discarded prescription receipt crumpled beneath the velvet settee.
I picked it up, smoothing out the paper beneath the dim light of the hallway sconce.
It wasn't Valentina’s heart medication. It was a potent, slow-acting neurotoxin derivative, prescribed under a dummy corporation controlled by one of Celeste’s shell companies.
My blood ran completely cold.
Celeste wasn't just trying to humiliate me or push me out of the penthouse. She was systematically poisoning Valentina, hoping to eliminate the matriarch who protected me, while framing me for negligence or worse.
Before I could slip the receipt into my pocket, a soft, mocking laugh echoed from the arched doorway.
“Snooping where you don't belong, little maid?” Celeste asked, gliding across the marble floor with predatory grace. Her diamond earrings caught the chandelier light as she stopped just a few feet away, a cruel, triumphant smile curving her red lips.
“You’re poisoning her,” I whispered, my voice shaking with a mixture of horror and fury. “Valentina treats you like a daughter, and you’re killing her.”
Celeste didn't even flinch. She didn't deny it. Instead, her smile widened into something truly frightening.
“The old woman is a relic of a dying era,” Celeste purred smoothly, taking another step closer. “And you? You’re a pathetic nobody who thought she could climb out of her tax bracket just because Dante looked at your face twice. By tomorrow morning, the police will find these toxic vials hidden beneath your cot in the staff quarters. And Dante will personally throw you into the lake.”
May you like
Before I could react, Celeste grabbed a heavy crystal decanter from the side table, smashed it violently against the edge of the marble bar, and deliberately drove her own designer heel down onto the thick crystal, slicing her palm open against the jagged shards while screaming at the top of her lungs.
“Help! Security! Someone help me! She’s gone insane!” Celeste shrieked, collapsing dramatically onto the floor amidst a sea of glittering, razor-sharp glass.
