Chapter 4 - THE THREAT FROM WITHIN
Three days after Hannah moved into the master wing, the friction within the household began to show.
While I ruled the estate with an iron fist, my extended family—specifically my cousin, Victor Rossi—believed they still held influence over household operations. Victor was a vulture who had spent years circling my empire, waiting for a moment of weakness to sink his claws into Cole Maritime and the Rossi holdings.
That afternoon, I was reviewing shipping manifests in my study when the heavy oak door burst open without a knock.
Victor strode in, his tailored Italian suit immaculate, his face twisted into an expression of arrogant disapproval. Behind him lingered Elena, our head housekeeper of ten years, her arms crossed defensively.
"Lorenzo, have you completely lost your mind?" Victor demanded, slamming his palms onto my desk. "Elena tells me you’ve kicked her out of the master wing, promoted some twenty-four-year-old nobody to a VIP suite, and assigned personal bodyguards to a kitchen maid! The entire staff is talking!"
I didn't flinch. I slowly set my Montblanc pen down on the blotter, leaning back in my leather chair, locking my dark eyes onto my cousin.
"Watch your tone in my house, Victor," I said, my voice dangerously calm. "And Elena is welcome to speak for herself."
Elena stepped forward, her expression a mix of wounded pride and indignation. "Mr. Rossi, with all due respect, I’ve served this family for a decade. I manage the domestic staff. Promoting a girl who was scrubbing floors yesterday to live in the master wing makes a mockery of our entire organizational structure. What makes her so special?"
"She saved my son’s life," I replied flatly.
Victor scoffed, waving a dismissive hand. "Oh, please! The baby had a cold or a feeding regression! Every newborn goes through that. You’re letting grief cloud your judgment, Lorenzo. You’re pampering a peasant because you're lonely."
The air in the study instantly dropped twenty degrees.
Before Victor could blink, I rose from my chair, rounded the desk in two long strides, and grabbed him by the lapels of his expensive Italian suit, slamming him hard against the oak bookshelf behind him. Books crashed to the floor in a chaotic clatter.
Elena shrieked, covering her mouth with her hands.
"Listen to me very carefully, Victor," I hissed, my face inches from his, my grip tightening until his collar choked him. "Never speak about my son, my grief, or my decisions in that tone again. If I decide to put a maid in the master suite, she sleeps in the master suite. If I decide to give her my entire fortune, she gets my entire fortune. You are a guest in this house by my grace alone. Do you understand?"
Victor’s face turned purple, his hands clawing weakly at my wrists. "L-Lorenzo... I... I understand. Let me go."
I shoved him away hard, sending him stumbling into the edge of the desk. He coughed, straightening his jacket with shaking hands, his eyes wide with genuine terror.
"Get out of my study," I ordered. "Both of you. And Elena—if I hear one more complaint about Hannah from you or anyone else on the domestic staff, you will be joining the night nurse in the unemployment line."
May you like
Without another word, Elena grabbed Victor’s arm and practically dragged him out of the room, slamming the door behind them.
I stood in the center of the quiet study, adjusting my cuffs. They thought Hannah was just a maid. They thought I was acting out of grief. But they had no idea that Hannah Hayes was the keystone holding my shattered world together. And anyone who tried to pull her down was going to answer to me.
