white lilies, a funereal sweetness that clogged her throat. A towering portrait of Auguste Dorsey Sr. hun

sofa. She was dressed in a severe black dress, her posture ramr

he same cold blue as her son's,

her feet. "How dare you sho

t stood her ground

cut in, her voice rising with theatrical sorrow. "Yo

lia said, her voice tr

what he could give you." She paused, letting the accusation hang in the

her, confused.

ped. "Auguste's pocket watch. The gold Vic

o memory of Auguste ever wearing one. "I... I don't

priceless family heirloom, passed down for generations. He cherished it more than any

enomous, that Analia was momentarily s

g out her husband. Alessandro stood near the window, his back

d him. The sound of his name felt foreign on h

ol of his suit. "Alessandro, please. We've been married for four

meeting hers. It was full of a cold, weary

ately, removed her

his voice flat and empty. "Now,

was over. Whatever they had, whatever he had felt fo

ve already notified the authorities," she added, her tone dripping with sa

st pushing her out; they were burying her under a mounta

losed-off expression of her husband. The last embers

n bother to leave the room. He dialed, and his voice was cri

lia Morris's offshore accounts and pe

l she had left. Money her own parents had left for her, h

t lifeline. He was lea

smile touched G

ll evaporated, replaced by a sudden, glacial calm. She met Alessa

t this," she said, her

umorless scoff

"It's handled. I have t

e, the scent of his expensive cologne a ghostly insult.

losed behind him, the

anna. The older woman looked her up a

aid softly, savoring her victory

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