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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