The Signature He Misread

Chapter 2 The Infested Nest

The lock opened an hour later. Dante came in with a small sandwich and a glass of milk on a tray.

"I thought you might be hungry."

I kept my eyes down. "I can't eat."

"You should try." He set the tray on my nightstand. "Come downstairs. You need some air."

His hand stayed at the small of my back as we entered the hall. The house usually smelled of old books and the lemon polish our staff used on the banisters.

Now all I could smell was Sienna's sweet perfume.

Our wedding portrait was gone from the living room wall. In it, I had been laughing against Dante's shoulder.

An enlarged photograph from a charity gala had replaced it, his arm wrapped around Sienna's waist.

My mother's sapphires rested at Sienna's throat.

They had started clearing me out before I had even left the house.

Sienna curled up on the Italian sofa my father had imported, wearing the cream silk robe I saved for anniversaries and birthdays.

A half-empty glass of champagne sat on the coaster beside her. She had made herself at home.

She looked up and smiled.

"Elara, darling. I hope you don't mind. It's been a stressful day, so I made myself comfortable."

I looked from the robe to the sapphires, then at the bare hooks where my wedding portrait had hung. My nails bit into my palm. When I raised my eyes, I gave Sienna the hurt she had come to see.

Dante's phone buzzed on the hall table. He arranged his face before turning the screen toward me.

**"Vance Heiress Confesses to Syndicate Crimes; Husband Dante Moretti 'Utterly Heartbroken'."**

The story was live before I had even reached a courtroom. Dante had already cast himself as the faithful husband and me as the wife who betrayed him.

I covered my mouth and forced out a rough sob. Some of the shaking was real. "I can't do this. I need to be alone."

I backed toward the hall. "Please, Dante. Let me sit in my father's study for a while."

He glanced at Sienna, then nodded. "Of course, my love. Take all the time you need. We'll be right here."

I hurried away before either of them changed their mind.

Once the study door closed, I listened until Dante and Sienna's voices faded toward the living room. Then I pressed the latch behind the fireplace mantel.

Part of the wall slid aside, exposing a steel safe.

My father had built it for a threat from inside the family. When he showed me the hidden latch, he told me not to open it unless the danger was already in our home.

The USB drive Julian had given me waited inside. I took it out and started my father's private encrypted server. The old machine could boot without touching the estate's ordinary network.

I inserted the drive. A window opened: **DOWNLOAD SECURE FILE_VANCE_LEDGERS.ZIP**.

I clicked the file. The real ledgers listed every payment Dante had laundered, every official he had bribed, and every shell company he controlled.

A payment led straight to my father's fatal car crash.

10%

30%

I listened for footsteps in the hall. The server fan sounded much too loud in the closed room.

60%

85%

The cursor flashed. I kept one hand on the drive.

99%

**DOWNLOAD COMPLETE.**

I pulled the USB free as the doorknob rattled. A fist struck the door.

"Elara?" Sienna snapped. "What are you doing in there? Open the door. What are you hiding?"