Chapter 1
Name: Emily
Age: 25
Height: 158
Eye color: light browm
Hair colour: light blond
Emily
The evening sun gilded the cobblestones of Signoria Square in Florence. I, Mia and Oscar standing surrounded by a crowd, holding certificates from the local environmental foundation.
We won: we stopped the constriction of an elite hotel that couldd destroy the Senhoor Lagoon.
"We saved the lagoon. For now",— said Mia,adjusting her hair. She looked as elegant as and composed as always.
Oscar noodded, agree:
— “Italian bureacracy is hell, but the main thing is , we’ve got them cornered."
I sighed, looking at old buildings.
— "Cornered? You don’t know the Bildin family, do you? They never loose. Money – is not problem for them, they i’ll find another way into that lagoon."
Oscar looked at me, he’s face became serious.
— "Then wei’ll be ready! In old documents i found dirt of them. They’re not just "developers", they’re are something much bigger".
My hand rested on his shoulder:
— "Careful," —my voise souded cold— "we are lawyer, not criminalist, no need to get involved into criminal."
— "They desecrate nature and the law, and the truth about them – that’s their weak spot,” Oscar looking at me firmly — "I’ll show them it’s far from over."
With quick steps, I walked away, leaving Mia and Oscar in the square.knew they looked at each other in silence. For them, it might have felt like a big win — but for me, it was just the start of a real war…
***
At night I set at the table and while looking through the documents, I searched for something that could expose the Bildin family. They were one of the fifteen richest families in Italy. The father Nicolas was a famous politician, and his wife Ottavia — a well-known judge from the north.
Their nineteen-year-old daughter, Isabella, went missing and was later declared dead, since no one ever found her. People said she was proud and strong-willed, a blonde who took every “no” as an insult.
The oldest son, Gabriel, had problems with the law. He was supposed to go to prison, but somehow he escaped punishment. Another person went to jail instead. After that, Gabriel disappeared for two years, and no one knows where he is now.
The second son, Alessandro, became an architect. The third followed his father and went into politics. And the youngest one was only four years old.
My fingers flipped through the pages of the 2019 audit report. I hoped to find at least one clue that would show illegal funding for Bildin Sr.’s election campaign.
Naive of me. He was playing much smarter than I thought..
Sudennly the laptop screen blinked, and a YouTube ad popped up. I want to remove but stopped. The name “Bildin Construction” caught my eye — a big building corporation and its owner, a green-eyed, charismatic man named Cesare Lorenzo. He had been known as the Bildin family’s business partner for the last two years.
He was giving a live interview:
— "We’re planning a massive project that will bring thousands of new jobs and change the face of the southern coast!” — Lorenzo boasted
I froze. Wait… the southern coast? That’s where our lagoon is??
— "We are investing millions of euros to build a new deep-water port and a transport center" — he said proudly — "It will let us welcome the biggest ships from all over the world."
I felt cold on my back. A deep port… it would destroy the lagoon. The deep port, the big ships, the water filled with fuel – all of this would kill the nature place.
Lorenzo smiled, but I saw that the hotel plan was only a small thing.
The real plan was much bigger and worse. The Bildin family used their power to get permission for the building.
The ad ended, and I stayed alone with new facts and old papers. So many thoughts rushed through my mind! This wasn’t just a deep-water port — it was an environmental disaster! Gathering my strength, I decided to find the full version of that interview and watch it again, to understand the real timeline of this insane project.
For twenty-five damn minutes, I watched Lorenzo interview about his plans until he finally said the key phrase:
— "We plan to finish construction in four years."
I close the laptop and call to Oscar’s number. After a few rings, finally heard his voice:
— "Hey again, Emily. Why aren’t you asleep at this hour?"
— "Oscar, since when do you sleep at this hour? As always reading your psychology books?"
He laughed softly.
— "Is that a bad?"
— "No, but listen. I didn’t call just to chat, we have a problem. A serious one.”
— "What happened?" — His tone instantly changed.
— "I was looking for dirt on Bildin Sr., and a random interview ad popped up. Cesare Lorenzo was talking about building a deep-water transport port, right in our lagoon! In just four years!!!"
Oscar went silent for a few seconds.
— "Wait…you’re not making this up, are you?"
— "Would I really call you at eleven p.m. to joke about something like that??”
— "Alright, alright…I get it" — He exhaled heavily — "Damn, four years. That’s not enough time, stopping this will be nearly impossible.”
— "Impossible things always turn real if we fight for them. We have to stop this, right?”
— "I’m with you" — he said quietly but firmly —"Tomorrow I’ll start digging for information, we’ll need every detail about this project and Lorenzo’s partners. If there’s a weak spot, I’ll find it."
— "Good, thank you" — I ended the call and tried to go to sleep
