The Romano estate was eerily silent the next morning. Alessia walked through the halls like a predator, her heels echoing against marble floors, eyes sharp for anything out of place. Every detail mattered now — every shadow, every whisper, every creak of a floorboard.
She called in her most trusted assistants and security team, but this time, she took the lead. "I want a full audit of every entry point in the mansion," she said, voice firm. "Cameras, sensors, doors, even the old service entrances. I don't want guesses — I want facts."
As her team scrambled to follow her orders, Alessia moved to her father's private files, cross-referencing ledgers and contracts with recent threats. One entry caught her attention: a transfer made to an unknown account, just weeks ago, with no explanation. The handwriting was strange, meticulous — someone who knew how to leave a mark without being noticed.
Her eyes narrowed. "Who authorized this?" she demanded of the assistant at her side.
"No one in the office, signorina," he stammered. "It… it wasn't recorded anywhere. It's almost like it appeared out of nowhere."
Alessia's lips pressed into a thin line. Someone was clever. Someone who knew exactly what they were doing. Someone who wanted her to chase shadows.
Later, she walked the perimeter of the estate herself, inspecting each window, door, and hedge. Every corner felt different now, charged with a hidden presence she couldn't yet identify.
A breeze rustled through the trees, and for a fleeting moment, Alessia thought she saw a figure moving just beyond the gates.
Blinking, she saw nothing.
It could have been a guard. It could have been the wind. It could have been nothing.
But her gut, honed by years of surviving threats her father never told her about, screamed otherwise.
Back inside, she sat at her desk, the envelope from the night before still lying open. She traced the red ink with her finger, letting her mind work through the possibilities.
Someone wanted her attention. Someone wanted to test her.
And whatever game they were playing, Alessia Romano was determined to win before they even realized she had started.
As the sun set over Florence, painting the city in gold and crimson, Alessia made a silent vow:
No one threatens my family. No one. Not Marco Vitale, not whoever lurks in the shadows… and no one will see me coming.
Somewhere far away, eyes watched the Romano estate from a distance, unreadable, calculating, and unseen. The game had begun — but Alessia didn't know the player lurking closest to her path.