"Huh?" Bella blinked, squinting in the direction Scarlett was pointing. Her eyes widened when she saw the speedboat. "You mean... that one?"
"Exactly that one," Scarlett replied confidently as she dragged Bella forward by the wrist. "You’ve never been on a speedboat, right?"
Bella shook her head, her eyes already glittering with anticipation. "No, never! I always wanted to..."
"Then today is your lucky day, sweet girl."
They reached the dock, and Scarlett, with her usual fearless charm, walked up to the man running the rentals and chatted with him for a few seconds—flashing her ID, whispering something smooth, and slipping a little tip. Within minutes, they had the entire boat to themselves.
Bella’s heart thumped with excitement as she climbed in, carefully sitting down while the wind began to lift strands of her long brown hair.
Scarlett stepped in confidently, adjusted her sunglasses, and gave a proud look at Bella. "Hold on tight, rookie."
And then the engine roared to life.
The boat shot forward over the waves with a sudden jolt, cutting through the water like a blade. Bella let out a surprised gasp as the wind slapped her face and the boat bounced gently over the sea.
"W-Whoa!!" she shouted, grabbing onto Scarlett’s arm in pure thrill. "It’s fast!"
Scarlett laughed loudly, her hair flying back in the wind. "You scared?"
"Nooo!!" Bella yelled, her eyes wide with joy and cheeks pink from the sea breeze. "This is amazing!"
She wrapped her arms tightly around Scarlett from the side, squealing when the boat jumped over a wave. Her laugh rang out, full of innocence and excitement, like a child experiencing a theme park ride for the first time.
Scarlett glanced at her and couldn’t help but smile at the sight—Bella’s face glowing, her voice raw with happiness, her delicate fingers clinging to her sleeve.
The sea was wild around them, and the sky stretched wide overhead, but in that moment, the two of them felt like they owned the entire ocean.
***
Leonardo leaned forward in his leather chair, his sharp eyes fixed on the wide security screen in front of him. A soft blue light from the monitor lit up his face in the otherwise dim room. The collar of his black shirt was undone—two buttons loose—revealing the sculpted lines of his chest. A faint sheen of tiredness coated his skin, but his expression remained cold, calculating.
The room smelled of paper and coffee. Stacks of files lay untouched on the desk beside him, ignored in favor of the slow, silent investigation playing out on-screen.
The suspect inside the house had still not been found.
Every single person—staff, guests, even the delivery men had been thoroughly questioned and monitored. Their backgrounds were double-checked, interviews recorded, routines traced minute by minute. But still, nothing.
Camera Feed #3 showed Aunty Clara in the kitchen, talking with someone—probably one of the junior chefs. Her posture was relaxed, her expression gentle. There was no hint of urgency, no secret hand gestures, no eye movements that gave anything away. It looked like a normal conversation. She was old, kind, and had worked in the mension since before Leo became the official head of the house. He narrowed his eyes but didn’t pause.
He switched to Camera #4—placed discreetly in the long corridor near the private guest rooms.
And again, he watched.
Footsteps. A maid passing by. A shadow. Someone exiting a room, someone else entering. Nothing too strange, but Leonardo kept rewinding the time stamps. He watched it again and again, scanning frame by frame like a hawk circling over prey. He even noted the way doors creaked open and shut, how long someone stayed inside a room, who looked around before walking, and who didn’t.
He sighed, his temples beginning to throb from the strain.
Grabbing his phone off the desk, he dialed the kitchen line.
"Bring me black coffee," he said, his voice low and curt. "Now."
He ended the call without waiting for a reply.
His fingers returned to the keyboard as he slowed the video again, eyes unblinking. Something was wrong. Something wasn’t adding up. He could feel it in his gut.
Even if the culprit had erased their tracks, they couldn’t have erased instincts honed through years of dealing with criminals. Leonardo Moretti was a man who noticed patterns others ignored, silence others talked over, shadows others failed to fear.
Knock knock.
"Come in," Leonardo said without looking away from the screen.
The door opened slowly, and the maid stepped in, carefully balancing a tray with a steaming cup of black coffee. Her eyes flickered up and for a moment, she froze.
He was sitting under the soft glow of the monitors, shirt slightly open at the chest, sleeves rolled just below the elbow. His tousled dark hair, strong jawline, and sculpted build made her heart skip a beat. The quiet authority in the room was almost suffocating.
She swallowed hard, her cheeks flushing, but quickly walked forward and placed the tray on his desk.
Still not sparing her a glance, Leonardo asked coldly, "Has she eaten breakfast?"
The maid blinked, slightly startled by the sudden question. "Y-Yes, sir," she replied quickly. "She had breakfast with her friend... and they both went out a little while ago."
Leonardo’s fingers paused on the keyboard.
He slowly turned his head toward her, finally giving her a proper look and the poor maid nearly tripped over her own feet under his gaze.
"Friend?" he asked sharply, voice low.
"Yes, sir... the girl who came this morning. She’s with her now."
"Leave," he said, eyes narrowing slightly.
The maid nodded hurriedly, nearly bowing before slipping out of the room.
Leonardo leaned back in his chair, taking the cup of coffee but barely sipping it. His frown deepened.
He set the cup down slowly.
That girl—whoever she was talked too much. He didn’t like loud people around Bella. Not after what happened last night. Bella was soft, childish... easily influenced. He knew it just by the way she got flustered at small things.
He exhaled and turned his gaze back to the monitor but now his thoughts were elsewhere.
He didn’t like it. Not one bit.
He would need to talk to Bella about this friend of hers. Before things got out of hand.