Harold quietly handed the officers a folder, and the hall went silent. Chiara had given him the original document logs, with Marco’s name on the file and the timestamp from the night before. Alessandro’s family business had been failing for three years, and he had forged signatures twice already to cover its debts. The $310,000 check was meant to be the third attempt. The officers did not arrest anyone that night, but they asked Alessandro and Marco to come with them in the morning for questioning.

Daniel took the microphone next, his voice shaking. He told his guests he had trusted this family and had nearly handed over everything he owned. Then he turned to Giulia and asked her directly whether she had known. She wept and said she had known her father was in trouble, but never about the plan. She had found out only that morning, when Daniel confronted her, and she had spent the day begging her father to confess. He had refused every time.

Giulia then did something nobody expected. She walked to the head table, took her father’s seat, and told the guests the wedding would proceed only if Daniel still wanted her. He said he did, and the hall erupted in tears and applause. Alessandro was charged with fraud within the week, and Marco cooperated fully with the police. Giulia sold her own jewelry and a small vineyard she had inherited from her grandmother, and used the money to repay the villa’s lenders.

Daniel and Giulia now live in Ohio, in a small house near mine, and every Sunday we cook together. I still study Italian every Tuesday, though now I do it purely for the joy of it. Giulia calls me Mamma Dorothy, and Alessandro has written me three letters of apology from prison. I have read them all, and I am considering a reply.