Chapter 4
The staff knew more than they admitted.
Of course they did.
Fear makes witnesses look blind.
I gathered the kitchen employees separately from Delia and Marcus.
No shouting.
No threats.
Just one rule.
“Tell me the truth before I discover it without you.”
The first woman spoke within thirty seconds.
“Mrs. Montoro was assigned service work whenever you left the city.”
Assigned.
Interesting word.
“By who?”
“Ms. Delia.”
“How?”
“She would send the regular staff upstairs.”
“Why?”
“She said Sofia needed to learn gratitude.”
I closed my eyes briefly.
Another man spoke.
“Sometimes Mr. Marcus brought guests into the kitchen.”
I opened them.
“For what?”
Silence.
“Say it.”
“To show them.”
My jaw tightened.
“Show them what?”
He looked ashamed.
“Mrs. Montoro washing dishes.”
I felt something ugly rise in my throat.
Entertainment.
Not private cruelty.
Performance.
“Why?”
“He told people she was the janitor’s wife.”
There it was.
The line Marcus used tonight had history.
Not improvisation.
A story they had built.
“How many people believed him?”
The employee shook his head.
“I don’t know.”
“What did Sofia say?”
“She stopped correcting them.”
That hurt.
At first, she must have corrected them.
Then learned correction made things worse.
One maid started crying.
“Sir, she told us not to say anything.”
“Why?”
“She said Delia would fire us.”
I looked around.
“And you believed Delia had that authority?”
Nobody answered.
Of course they did.
My sister had managed family properties for years before I married Sofia.
People obeyed her because she had always been there.
Same problem old families create everywhere.
Past authority becomes invisible ownership.
Then the maid added:
“Mrs. Montoro tried to leave once.”
My head lifted.
“When?”
“Two months ago.”
“What happened?”
“She made it to the elevator.”
Silence.
“Then Marcus brought Lily downstairs.”
My entire body went cold.
“What did he say?”
The maid whispered:
“He told Sofia to choose which one of them was leaving.”
May you like
That was the moment I stopped thinking of this as humiliation.
It was captivity built without locks.
