I looked up, my fingers trembling around the card. "Someone wants to meet me."
Mother plucked the card from my fingers, her face draining of color as she read. "You're not going."
"Who's Altieri?" The question hung between us, sharp and dangerous.
Mother's teacup clattered against its saucer. "No one. It's nothing—a mistake."
But the tremor in her voice told me everything. This wasn't a mistake. This was something she'd been dreading. Another secret amongst the many our family had.
"Why does the letter call me JuliettaAltieri?” The way she wouldn’t meet my eyes made my stomach twist with certainty that something was wrong. But there was also a twinge of knowing, because I’d never felt like I belonged here.“Who am I, Mother?"
She stood abruptly, smoothing invisible wrinkles from her silk blouse. "You're Julietta Bennett. Our daughter. That's all you need to know."
"But—"
"I said that's all." Her voice cracked like a whip. "Henderson, dispose of this. And inform security not to accept any more unmarked deliveries."
I watched her stride from the room, back rigid, heels clicking against marble. In eighteen years, I'd never seen her lose composure. Not once.
The card called to me from where it lay discarded on the table. Julietta Altieri. A name I'd never heard, yet it somehow felt like a key unlocking something long buried.
I knew what I had to do.
"Where to, Miss Bennett?" Martin, our driver, held the car door open, his face professionally blank.
I slid into the back seat of the town car, my heart hammering against my ribs. Unsurprisingly, Mother had disappeared to tend to her own plans shortly after breakfast, leaving me alone once more. How long would it take her to notice… ? "The Regency, please."
His eyes met mine in the rearview mirror. "Does your mother know about this detour?"
I clutched my purse tighter. "It's my birthday, Martin. I'm eighteen now."
He nodded slowly. "Yes, miss. The Regency it is."
The city blurred past the window—gleaming skyscrapers, crowded sidewalks, lives intersecting and diverging. Who was waiting for me? What did they want? Why now, after eighteen years of silence?
Altieri. The name echoed in my mind. Had my entire life been built on lies? The private schools, piano lessons, charity galas—all carefully constructed around a foundation that might not exist. It sounded like something out of a cheesy mystery novel, but I’d never felt quite… athomehere.
"We're here, miss." Martin's voice pulled me from my thoughts.
The Regency loomed above us, a pillar of black glass scraping the sky. My reflection stared back at me from the mirrored doors—pale face, auburn hair tucked behind my ears, modest blue dress chosen by Mother for my birthday breakfast.
"Would you like me to accompany you?" Martin asked, concern etching lines around his eyes. He’d been with our family for fifteen years, and never once had I taken a lone car ride to a strange location. Until now.
I shook my head. "I'll be fine. Wait for me?"
"Of course, miss."
The elevator ascended smoothly, numbers climbing. My stomach dropped with each floor. Nine. Ten. Eleven. The doors slid open to reveal a stark reception area—black marble, white leather, no decoration except a single silver logo on the wall. Another 'R', like the wax seal.
A woman with a severe blonde bob looked up from behind a glass desk. "Can I help you?"
"I'm Julietta. I received an invitation."
Something like pity flickered across her face. "Of course. He's expecting you."
She led me down a hallway to a set of double doors, knocking once before pushing them open. "Sir, Miss Altieri is here."
Altieri. Not Bennett. The name still felt foreign on my tongue.
