Chapter 7 - AFTERMATH AND ACCUSATIONS
The morning sun rose over a scarred, battered estate.
Crime scene cleaners, federal agents on Luca’s payroll, and private medical teams swarmed the grounds. Twelve attackers were dead; five of Luca’s men were wounded, but thanks to the reinforced defenses, the core of the estate had held.
I sat in the formal living room, wrapped in a thick wool blanket, holding a mug of warm tea that had long gone cold. Leo was asleep in a portable playpen beside my chair, blissfully unaware of the horror that had taken place hours earlier.
The grand double doors swung open, and Donato walked in, his face grave, accompanied by two high-ranking lieutenants.
Behind them stepped Sophia Vance.
She looked entirely unbothered by the chaos, a cruel, smug smile playing on her lips as she looked down at me.
“It’s over, Luca,” Sophia declared loudly as Luca walked into the room, fresh from changing his clothes. “The Romanos didn't just guess the layout of the East Wing. Someone turned off the silent alarm at the perimeter fifteen minutes before the attack.”
Luca stopped in his tracks, his eyes narrowing into deadly slits. “What are you saying?”
Sophia pointed her gloved finger straight at my face.
“I’m saying your sweet little nanny is a traitor,” Sophia hissed. “Check her background! Check her bank accounts! The Romanos paid off her mother’s medical debts three days ago! A lump sum of fifty thousand dollars!”
A collective gasp echoed through the room.
I dropped my tea mug, the cold liquid splashing across the Persian rug. “What?! That’s a lie! I don't know anything about fifty thousand dollars!”
“Do you deny that your mother’s hospital bill was paid in full on Tuesday?” Donato asked sternly, stepping forward with a printout of financial records.
I froze.
My mother’s hospital bill had been paid on Tuesday. I had received a letter from the billing department two days ago saying an anonymous donor had settled the account. I assumed it was a charity organization or a medical relief fund!
“I... I thought it was a grant!” I stammered, my voice high and panicked as tears filled my eyes. “I swear on my life, I didn't turn off any alarms! I don't even know where the alarm controls are!”
“She’s lying, Luca!” Sophia insisted, stepping closer to him, her voice dripping with poison. “She used the baby to gain your trust, just like Isabella did! Throw her in the basement and let the men interrogate her!”
My heart stopped. I looked at Luca, my hands trembling violently.
This was the moment of truth. He had been betrayed by his wife; his entire life was built on paranoia and mistrust. Everything pointed toward me.
Luca stood completely motionless in the center of the room, his face an unreadable block of ice. He looked down at the financial documents Donato handed him, then looked up, his dark eyes locking onto mine.
I didn't beg. I didn't scream.
I just looked him dead in the eye, letting him see every ounce of my soul.
“Luca... look at me,” I whispered, my voice shaking. “Do you really believe I would put Leo in danger?”
The room went dead silent. You could hear the ticking of the grandfather clock in the corner.
Luca slowly folded the financial papers in half and shoved them into his pocket.
He turned toward Sophia.
“Donato,” Luca said smoothly.
“Yes, Boss?”
“Take Miss Vance down to the holding cells in the basement.”
Sophia’s jaw dropped in absolute shock. “WHAT?! Are you insane?! I’m your ally!”
“My security team traced the IP address that accessed the perimeter alarms an hour ago,” Luca said softly, his voice carrying an edge sharp enough to cut glass. “It came from a encrypted phone registered to your father’s estate in Chicago. You paid off Avery’s mother’s debt using a shell company to frame her, so I would kill her and marry you.”
Sophia’s face drained of every ounce of color. She stepped back, panic bursting through her eyes. “Luca... wait... I did it for us! She’s nobody! She doesn't belong with you!”
“Get her out of my sight,” Luca ordered coldly.
The bodyguards seized Sophia’s arms, ignoring her hysterical screams as they dragged her out of the room and down into the darkness of the estate’s lower levels.
Luca stood alone in the center of the room.
May you like
He walked slowly over to my chair, dropped to his knees in front of me, and took my trembling hands in his.
“I’m sorry,” he whispered, leaning his forehead against my knees. “I’m so sorry I let her speak to you like that.”
