Chapter 2 - SOFIA DELGADOSofia woke in Hackensack University Medical Center and immediately asked for her daughter.
Not water.
Not a doctor.
Emma.
“Where is she?”
The nurse tried to calm her.
“Ms. Delgado—”
“My daughter.”
The hospital had called the emergency contact listed in Sofia’s phone.
Rosa Martinez.
Rosa was supposed to have Emma.
Sofia reached toward the table for her phone.
No phone.
Her panic increased.
Then the curtain opened.
“Mom!”
Emma ran inside.
Sofia began crying.
Rosa followed, looking exhausted and guilty.
Behind her stood Marco Rizzi.
And Alessandro Moretti.
Sofia stopped crying.
Her face changed completely.
Fear.
Alessandro saw it.
Not gratitude.
Not embarrassment.
Fear.
She tried to sit up.
“Mr. Moretti.”
“Stay down.”
“I’m so sorry.”
“For what?”
Sofia looked at Emma.
“The uniform.”
Emma looked down too.
“I told her she could not—”
“Sofia.”
Alessandro stepped closer.
“You’re in the hospital.”
She became quiet.
He continued:
“Emma is safe.”
Sofia closed her eyes.
Relief.
Then:
“My shift.”
“There is no shift.”
She looked at him.
“I need to be there.”
“No.”
“I can go tomorrow.”
Alessandro stared.
The woman had an oxygen cannula under her nose.
An IV in her arm.
“You’re not going anywhere tomorrow.”
Her eyes immediately filled with panic.
“Please.”
The response startled him.
“I’m not firing you.”
Sofia looked toward Rosa.
Then Marco.
As though she did not believe him.
Alessandro pulled a chair closer.
“Who told you missing work would get you fired?”
Sofia said nothing.
Emma answered for her.
“The lady with red glasses.”
Sofia’s face tightened.
“Emma.”
“What?”
“You shouldn’t—”
Alessandro interrupted.
“Your daughter does not need to protect anyone here.”
Sofia looked at him.
Neither do you, he almost said.
Instead:
“Denise Kessler?”
Sofia lowered her eyes.
“Yes.”
“What exactly did she tell you?”
“It doesn’t matter.”
“It matters to me.”
Sofia gave a tiny, exhausted laugh.
“That’s because nobody tells you.”
The sentence surprised everyone.
Marco looked at Alessandro.
Alessandro leaned back.
“What don’t they tell me?”
Sofia immediately regretted speaking.
“I’m tired.”
“Then rest.”
“I don’t want trouble.”
“You already said that.”
Sofia looked toward Emma.
The child was sitting beside Rosa eating crackers from a hospital packet.
Sofia’s voice became quieter.
“Mr. Moretti, I need this job.”
“I understand.”
“No.”
She shook her head.
“You don’t.”
That could have sounded disrespectful.
Alessandro did not react.
Sofia continued.
“The cottage comes with the work.”
The staff cottage.
Alessandro knew some employees received estate housing.
“What about it?”
“If I lose my job, Emma and I have thirty days to leave.”
Alessandro frowned.
“That isn’t the policy.”
Sofia stared at him.
“Yes, it is.”
“No.”
His certainty irritated her.
“I signed it.”
Alessandro looked toward Marco.
Marco’s expression changed.
Their estate housing policy allowed ninety days after involuntary termination except for serious misconduct.
Families with dependent children could request longer relocation assistance.
Thirty days was wrong.
Alessandro asked:
“Do you have a copy?”
Sofia laughed bitterly.
“Denise keeps the paperwork.”
“Your copy.”
“I asked.”
“And?”
“She said HR keeps it.”
Marco was already taking notes.
Alessandro felt the first real flicker of anger.
“Why were you at the hospital?”
Sofia looked away.
The doctor answered from the doorway.
Dr. Priya Anand entered holding a chart.
“With Ms. Delgado’s permission, I can explain generally.”
Sofia nodded.
Dr. Anand said Sofia experienced an acute respiratory episode consistent with significant airway irritation.
“She has asthma?”
“Yes.”
Sofia answered.
“Since childhood.”
“Trigger?”
Dr. Anand looked at her.
“That’s what we’re determining.”
Sofia hesitated.
Then:
“Cleaning chemicals.”
Alessandro went still.
“What chemicals?”
“I don’t know the name.”
“You use them at my house?”
“Basement service hall.”
Marco frowned.
“The industrial degreaser?”
Sofia nodded.
Alessandro knew the product.
It was supposed to be used by the maintenance crew with ventilation and protective equipment.
Not regular housekeeping.
“Who told you to use it?”
Sofia said nothing.
Emma answered again.
“Red glasses.”
Sofia closed her eyes.
Alessandro looked toward Marco.
“Find Denise.”
“I already did.”
“And?”
“She left the estate twenty minutes after Emma entered the study.”
Alessandro’s expression changed.
“Where?”
“Her phone is off.”
Sofia looked suddenly frightened.
“Please don’t tell her I said anything.”
That sentence settled it.
Not because it proved a crime.
Because an employee lying in a hospital bed was still more afraid of her supervisor than of the medical emergency that put her there.
Alessandro stood.
“Sofia.”
She looked at him.
“You will remain paid while you recover.”
Her mouth opened.
“No one will remove you or Emma from the cottage.”
Tears formed.
“And nobody is touching your job until I understand what happened.”
Sofia whispered:
“You can say that.”
Alessandro frowned.
“What?”
“Denise says you don’t know what happens downstairs.”
He stared.
Sofia immediately looked away.
There it was again.
His name.
His house.
His authority.
Someone had been telling workers Alessandro Moretti was the reason they had no room to refuse.
He spoke carefully.
“What else does she say I don’t know?”
Sofia remained silent.
Rosa looked at her.
Then finally spoke.
“The hours.”
Alessandro turned.
“What hours?”
Rosa’s voice shook.
“What we actually work.”
Sofia closed her eyes.
Marco stopped writing.
Alessandro looked between the two women.
“How many?”
Rosa whispered:
“Sometimes sixty.”
“And you’re paid for?”
“Forty.”
The hospital room went quiet.
Alessandro felt his anger sharpen.
He had approved a household-services contract that billed his company for overtime.
Every month.
If Rosa and Sofia were not receiving it—
someone was.
Emma tugged on Alessandro’s sleeve.
He looked down.
“Mr. Boss?”
Despite everything, Sofia almost smiled.
Alessandro crouched.
“Yes?”
“Mom really isn’t fired?”
“No.”
Emma studied his face.
Then nodded.
“Okay.”
As if her six-year-old judgment mattered more than every contract on his desk.
Maybe that was precisely why it did.
Alessandro stood.
“Marco.”
“Yes?”
“Lock every payroll and facilities record connected to this estate.”
Marco’s expression hardened.
“Done.”
“And nobody deletes anything.”
He looked at Sofia.
“No matter whose name is on it.”
Because the problem was no longer Denise Kessler.
May you like
Not if overtime money had been disappearing for years.
Someone above her had to know.
Related Stories
