Chapter 3 — The Second Accusation
Clara stood completely still.
The silver letter opener shook in her right hand.
A thin streak of blood ran along its edge.
Vanessa sat on the marble floor clutching her forearm.
“She attacked me,” Vanessa gasped.
The housekeepers backed away from Clara.
Mateo came down the stairs behind Juliano.
“Put it down,” he ordered.
Clara looked at the object in her hand as though she had only just realized she was holding it.
“I didn’t—”
“Put it down!”
She dropped it.
The metal clattered across the floor.
Vanessa began to cry.
This time, the tears fell.
“You saw her,” she said to the staff. “You all saw her.”
Nobody answered.
Juliano crouched beside Vanessa.
A narrow cut marked her forearm.
Not deep.
Not accidental-looking either.
He glanced at Clara.
“What happened?”
“She shoved it into my hand,” Clara said.
Vanessa laughed through her tears.
“That doesn’t even make sense.”
“She grabbed me near the console table. She pressed it into my palm, then cut herself.”
“You’re insane.”
Clara’s voice cracked.
“She said no one would believe me twice.”
Juliano looked toward the nearest camera.
Its status light was dark.
Mateo saw it too.
“I disabled the entire ground floor when you called me,” Mateo said quietly.
Juliano turned on him.
“What?”
“I thought you wanted privacy while reviewing the footage.”
“I never told you to disable anything.”
Mateo’s face drained of color.
Vanessa pressed a hand to her wound.
“Can everyone stop talking about cameras and call an ambulance?”
“It’s a surface cut,” Juliano said.
She stared at him.
“You’re defending her?”
“I’m looking at the facts.”
“The fact is she stabbed me.”
“No,” Clara said. “I didn’t.”
Vanessa rose slowly.
She crossed the distance between them before anyone could stop her.
“You little liar.”
Clara flinched.
Vanessa slapped her.
The sound cracked through the entryway.
Juliano caught Vanessa’s wrist before she could do it again.
His grip was firm.
Not violent.
But Vanessa’s expression changed immediately.
“Let go of me.”
“You framed her.”
Silence.
Clara stopped breathing.
The housekeepers looked at one another.
Vanessa gave a confused little laugh.
“What?”
“I watched the recording.”
Vanessa’s eyes flicked toward Mateo.
That was enough.
Juliano released her wrist.
“You planted the ring.”
Vanessa’s face shifted through three expressions.
Shock.
Fear.
Then anger.
It settled on hurt.
“You went through security footage instead of believing your fiancée?”
“I watched you do it.”
She pressed her lips together.
For a moment, she seemed too tired to pretend.
Then she looked at Clara.
“She was sleeping with you.”
Clara’s mouth fell open.
Juliano did not move.
Vanessa pointed between them.
“Don’t stand there acting confused. I saw her come out of your bedroom.”
Clara shook her head.
“No. Your mother asked me to deliver your medication.”
Juliano looked at her sharply.
“My mother?”
Clara realized too late what she had said.
Vanessa smiled.
A strange, relieved smile.
Juliano stepped toward Clara.
“My mother has been dead for eleven years.”
May you like
Clara backed away.
And for the first time that night, she looked guilty.
