he arrival of the crimson box. The vintage Montblanc sat on her scarred wooden desk, a silent, ivory sentinel that seemed to pulse with an un

hrough the slot in the door. A heavy, cream-colored envelo

up. Her eyes went wide as she read the return address. "Bee, you're going to

expensive-thick, linen-pressed, and embossed with a minimal

Signori

the 2026 'Masterpiece Merit' Scholarship. This prestigious award is granted to students of the

s a private endowment to cover personal expenditures and family medical contingencies. Furthermore, all outstanding ba

ca's fingers, fluttering to

pered, her voice barel

his is it! No more double shifts at the cafe. No more worrying

been drowning in debt. But as Bianca looked at the gold seal on the letter, her mind didn'

a said, her voice tightening with a sudden, sharp

? It's a common name for a high-end foundat

he floor. She grabbed the Montblanc pen from her desk and held it up. "He told me he wanted to change my life. He told m

ubt. "You are the top of your class. Your restoration work on the Baroque saints was m

ella," Bianca snapped, her heart beginning to hammer a frantic rhyt

should have felt was being strangled by a mounting sense of dread. If Dante had done this, it

ace of her benefactor and see if those ambe

lways were bustling with students, the air thick with the smell of oil paint and yo

. "The endowment was handled through a private legal firm. The Fondazione di Oro is a new philanthropic arm. They

sed, leaning over the counter. "How

ly looked into your financial stability to ensure their 'investment' wouldn't be wasted

ord tasted like c

ence again-not a physical person, but the suffocating weight of an invisible

nvelope, in the smallest, almost microscopic

s a clever, cruel little

, lethal one. By paying her debts, he hadn't removed her burdens; he had gathered them all

pered to the empty air of the corridor,

She walked out of the Accademia and toward the glistening, glass

wanted to own her debt, she was going to make sure he

e edges of the city, but Bianca didn't slow down. She had smelled t