A Little Girl Made Me Laugh for the First Time Since My Wife Died—Then She Pointed at the Locked Room and Said, “The Pretty Lady Told Me.”

Rosa pressed her back against the wall, tears welling in her soft brown eyes. She held both hands up in surrender, her breathing ragged.

"She gave it to me," Rosa choked out. "I didn't steal it! I swear on Sophia’s soul, she gave it to me herself!"

Dante towered over her, the locket burning against his palm. "Carmela died eighteen months ago in an explosion on Lake Shore Drive. You arrived at this estate four months ago. Explain that to me before I lose my patience."

Rosa wiped a tear from her cheek, her hands trembling violently. "Four years ago... I was twenty-four. I was pregnant, alone, and completely broke. I went to Saint Jude’s Free Clinic on the west side. A woman was funding the prenatal wing under an alias—she called herself Clara."

Dante’s eyes narrowed. Carmela’s mother’s name had been Clara.

"She paid for my doctor visits," Rosa continued, her voice breaking. "She paid for my vitamins. When Sophia was born, she came to the hospital. She held my baby and cried. She told me she couldn't have children of her own, and that seeing Sophia gave her peace."

"And the locket?" Dante demanded.

"A month before... before the news said she died," Rosa whispered, "she met me in a coffee shop in Evanston. She was terrified, Dante. She was constantly looking over her shoulder. She handed me an envelope of cash and that locket. She told me, 'If anything happens to me, take this. One day, you might need to show it to Dante so he knows you're protected.'"

Dante stared at her, the room tilting beneath his feet. "She knew she was going to die."

"She didn't say she was going to die," Rosa said softly. "She said she was being watched. She said someone inside her own home was slipping things into her medicine."

Dante felt a cold shock travel down his spine. "Carmela was sick with leukemia. The doctors—"

"She told me she wasn't sick at all," Rosa interrupted, her voice gaining strength. "She told me someone was making her sick."