Chapter 3 - The Nursery and the Blue-Eyed Conspirator
Ten minutes later, the door didn't unlock, but a soft knock rapped against the wood before it slowly creaked open.
It wasn't Alessandro Moretti.
It was the maid who had brought the clothes earlier, her face wearing a sympathetic, cautious expression.
“Ms. Harper?” the maid said softly.
“Mr. Moretti said you may use the adjoining bathroom to freshen up. He also... gave permission for you to visit the nursery down the hall.”
Grace sat up straight, wiping the remaining moisture from her cheeks.
“The nursery? Is Sofia... can I see her?”
“She’s been asking for her ‘new mommy’ for an hour,” the maid admitted with a faint, apologetic smile.
“Mr. Moretti gave strict instructions not to let you leave the wing, but he didn't forbid you from seeing the child.”
Grace didn't hesitate.
She swung her legs over the side of the bed, slipped her feet into the plush wool slippers left on the floor, and followed the maid down the expansive, art-lined hallway of the Moretti mansion.
The hallways were vast, draped in dark crimson velvet and lit by antique brass wall sconces, radiating an aura of untouchable wealth and ancient power.
They stopped outside a heavy white door adorned with a hand-painted wooden sign reading Sofia.
The maid pushed the door open, gesturing for Grace to enter before quietly retreating down the hall.
The room inside was a child’s paradise—walls painted a soft sky blue, filled with towering bookshelves, an indoor playhouse, a miniature grand piano, and more stuffed animals than Grace had ever seen in one place.
Sitting in the middle of a massive pastel-pink rug was Sofia.
The four-year-old was wearing a cream cashmere sweater and matching leggings, her dark curls tied back with a velvet bow, intently trying to dress a large porcelain doll.
When Grace stepped across the threshold, Sofia snapped her head up.
The little girl’s face lit up with an incandescent, triumphant smile.
“You came!” Sofia cheered, scrambling across the rug on her hands and knees before throwing her arms around Grace’s legs.
Grace knelt down instantly, wrapping her arms around the small child, burying her face against Sofia’s soft hair, which smelled faintly of lavender and baby shampoo.
“Oh, sweetie,” Grace whispered, her voice cracking as a fresh wave of emotion hit her.
“You shouldn't have gone out into the storm. You could have gotten hurt.”
Sofia pulled back, her wide, painfully blue eyes studying Grace’s face with an unsettling level of adult seriousness.
“I had to,” Sofia stated matter-of-factly.
“Daddy was sad. The house was too quiet. And the man said you were cold and needed a home.”
Grace froze.
The air in the nursery seemed to drop ten degrees.
“What man, Sofia?” Grace asked, her voice dropping to a cautious, trembling whisper.
“What man told you to find me?”
Sofia tilted her head, unaffected by the sudden tension in Grace’s body, and pointed a small finger toward the hallway window overlooking the snowy courtyard.
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“The man with the nice coat,” Sofia chirped innocently.
“He said if I gave you the bear cookie and brought you to the big black cars, you would make Daddy smile again... and you would help us find Auntie Maya.”
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