Chapter 6 - The Unrepentant Bride
"You fool," Evelyn hissed, stepping right up to Roman, her eyes blazing with narcissistic fury. "Do you really think a few audio files can destroy what I’ve built? My father is the head of the Senate Judiciary Committee! The federal prosecutor’s office eats out of the palm of my hand! Even if you take those files to the police, they’ll never see the light of day!"
Roman looked down at her with profound disgust. "You killed my mother, Evelyn. For what? My trust fund? My company? You were already going to inherit half my empire when we married."
"Half?" Evelyn sneered, her voice dripping with contempt. "I didn't want half, Roman. I wanted all of it. Your mother saw right through me from day one. She sat in that hospital bed, judging me, telling you I was cold, telling you I didn't love you. Every time she breathed, she was a threat to my future. So I helped her stop breathing. It was so easy. A little adjustment to the IV drip while the nurses were at dinner, and everyone thought her failing heart finally gave out."
She smiled—a wide, terrifyingly empty smile that made Victor instinctively reach for his sidearm.
"And she deserved it," Evelyn whispered. "Just like that stupid little nurse, Claire, is going to get what she deserves tonight. Did you really think leaving her at your estate was going to save her? My second team was dispatched to Ashcombe twenty minutes ago. By now, your little sanctuary is burning to the ground."
Roman’s blood ran ice cold.
The color drained from his face, not out of fear for himself, but out of absolute, unadulterated terror.
"You didn't," Roman whispered, his voice trembling.
"Watch me," Evelyn smiled, reaching into her designer handbag.
Before she could pull out her burner phone, Roman lunged forward with blinding speed. He grabbed her wrist, twisting it sharply until she cried out in pain, dropping her phone onto the marble floor where it shattered into pieces.
"Victor!" Roman roared, his voice echoing through the penthouse. "Get the chopper warmed up now! We are heading back to Ashcombe!"
"Boss," Victor shouted from the security console near the elevator. "Secure line coming in from the estate! It’s Claire!"
Roman snatched the encrypted satellite receiver from Victor’s hand, pressing it frantically to his ear.
"Claire! Are you alright? Are you and Lily safe?" Roman shouted, panic overriding every professional boundary he had ever maintained.
The speaker crackled, and through the static, Claire’s voice came through—shaking, but alive.
"Roman... you need to get back here right now," Claire said rapidly. "They breached the eastern perimeter. But... but that's not why I'm calling."
"What happened?" Roman demanded, sprinting toward the private elevator with Victor and his enforcers hot on his heels.
"Lily... Lily found something in the storybook," Claire’s voice trembled. "She opened the binding where I hid the medical copies, and she dropped the book. A second envelope fell out. One we didn't see before."
May you like
Roman slammed his fist against the elevator call button, his heart hammering against his ribs. "What was inside it, Claire?"
"It’s not medical records," Claire whispered, absolute horror in her tone. "It’s a letter written by your mother... addressed to you. And it proves Evelyn wasn't working alone."
