Chapter 12 - Whispers in the Walls
The estate immediately transitioned into absolute, suffocating lockdown. The perimeter guards were tripled, heavy blast shutters were engaged, and Hannah was strictly confined to the upper floors of the mansion. But Hannah was no longer the meek, terrified maid who followed orders blindly. She knew the massive estate significantly better than the heavily armed tactical men patrolling its halls. She knew the security blind spots, the hidden service corridors, and most importantly, she deeply understood the psychology of the staff.
While Lorenzo was locked in his study with his captains, actively preparing for a violent, bloody street war, Hannah began her own completely silent, independent investigation. She noticed small, almost imperceptible changes in the house's rhythm. A missing set of master keys from the laundry room. A young kitchen boy who lingered just a little too long near the main ventilation shafts.
Late one night, completely unable to sleep due to the heavy weight of her pregnancy and her racing mind, Hannah slipped into the hidden corridor behind the main kitchen. She moved silently in her soft slippers, her heart pounding with familiar, electric adrenaline. Through a rusted grate, she observed the young kitchen boy pouring a clear, odorless liquid into the estate’s main coffee urn—the exact urn designated solely for Lorenzo’s morning service.
Hannah didn't scream, and she didn't run for the armed guards. Instead, she stepped out of the shadows, holding the heavy, surgical steel bone saw she had kept as a grim souvenir from the night she saved Lorenzo’s life.
The boy froze instantly, dropping the glass vial in sheer, unadulterated terror as it shattered on the floor.
"Who paid you?" Hannah asked, her voice dangerously calm and utterly devoid of any human mercy.
When the boy refused to answer, trembling violently against the counter, Hannah didn't hesitate for a single second. She pressed the cold, unforgiving steel of the saw directly against his throat.
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"I have dragged my husband back from hell once," she whispered fiercely into his ear. "I will gladly send you there right now to keep him safe. Talk."
The boy broke instantly, sobbing out a frantic confession that Matteo had successfully infiltrated the staff completely, planting deep-cover moles among Dante’s old hires.
