Chapter 2: The Message Beneath the Curtain
Lily took Marcello’s hand and led him toward the staircase.
“Please stop this,” the elegant woman said, hurrying after them.
“She’s only a child.
She imagined it.”
“I didn’t,” Lily insisted.
“It rolled under the little table.”
At the top of the stairs, Lily pointed toward a half-open bedroom door.
Marcello stepped inside while Lily’s mother held her close.
The woman blocked the doorway.
“Marcello, you’re embarrassing me in front of everyone.”
“Then let Lily show me, and we’ll go downstairs.”
Lily knelt beside a small table and reached behind the curtain.
When she stood up, she was holding a soft, flesh-colored pad shaped like a pregnant belly.
Marcello stared at it.
“What is that?”
The woman’s face lost all color.
“It’s not mine.”
“But I saw it fall,” Lily said.
“And she put it here.”
Before Marcello could speak, a phone hidden beneath the curtain lit up.
A new message appeared on the screen:
“Make sure Marcello signs the papers tonight.
Once he does, the baby won’t matter.”
Marcello slowly looked at the woman.
Then another message arrived—from a name he recognized immediately.
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Who sent the message, and why did they need Marcello’s signature?
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