Chapter 3 - The Price of a Life
"Emma!"
A frantic voice shattered the tension in the hallway.
Mama rushed into the study, her maid apron stained with bleach, her face pale with terror. She had heard the gunshot. Seeing the blood on the floor and guards on their knees, she fell to her hands and knees, scrambling toward me.
"Please! Mr. Moretti, please spare her!" Mama sobbed hysterically, wrapping her arms around me and pulling me behind her body like a shield. "She's just four! She doesn't know anything! Whatever she did, take my life instead! Please don't hurt my baby!"
Alejandro didn't move. He remained on one knee, his deep, dark eyes fixed entirely on me.
"Elena," Alejandro said softly.
Mama flinched, clutching me tighter. "Yes, sir... please..."
"Look at the floor," Alejandro instructed calmly.
Mama hesitated, her body shaking wildly, but she forced her eyes down. Beside Alejandro’s knee lay the small, spent auto-injector. The orange tip was exposed.
"Do you know what this is?" Alejandro asked.
Mama’s breath caught in her throat. Her eyes went wide as realization hit her like a physical blow. She quickly reached down and unzipped my pink rabbit backpack.
It was empty.
"Emma..." Mama whispered, tears bursting from her eyes as she looked at me. "Your... your EpiPen... That was your only one..."
"Mama, Mr. Moretti couldn't breathe," I whimpered softly, hugging my bunny tight. "He made the same noise I made in the taxi..."
Mama froze. She knew better than anyone what that EpiPen meant. We were poor. We lived in the basement staff quarters. It had taken her three months of double shifts cleaning the mansion to afford that single, life-saving auto-injector after my severe peanut allergy diagnosis. Without insurance, it was a small fortune. It was my safety net—my only defense against death if I accidentally touched the wrong food.
And I had just used it on the most dangerous man in the state.
"She saved my life, Elena," Alejandro said, his voice deep and echoing through the grand study.
He slowly stood up to his full height. His gaze swept over the remaining loyal guards who were still standing at attention.
"Listen to me carefully," Alejandro announced, his command ringing through the hallway. "This child gave up her only lifeline to save mine. As of this exact second, Emma Miller is under the permanent protection of the Moretti bloodline."
The guards bowed their heads instantly. "Yes, Don Moretti!"
Alejandro turned to his personal assistant, who had just rushed into the room after hearing the commotion.
"Call my personal medical director," Alejandro ordered ruthlessly. "I want the highest-grade pediatric auto-injectors shipped to this mansion by helicopter within two hours. Buy out the manufacturing batch if you have to. Every room in this house will be stocked with her medication. I want a dedicated pediatric doctor stationed in the west wing twenty-four hours a day."
"Right away, Boss!" the assistant yelled, scrambling to pull out his phone.
Alejandro then looked down at Mama, who was still weeping on the floor, stunned by what she was hearing.
"Elena, you will never clean another floor in this house," Alejandro said, his tone leaving zero room for argument. "You and Emma are moving out of the basement staff room immediately. You will occupy the Master Guest Suite on the third floor. You are no longer servants. You are family."
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Mama gasped, covering her mouth. "Mr. Moretti... we can't accept—"
"You saved my life through your daughter's heart," Alejandro interrupted, his eyes flashing with lethal intensity. "In my world, a life debt is paid in full. Anyone who dares lay a finger on your daughter... will have to go through me first."
