“DON’T LET HER TOUCH MY FATHER AGAIN!” THE MAFIA BOSS’S FIANCÉE HUMILIATED HIS 25-YEAR-OLD HOUSEKEEPER IN FRONT OF THE ENTIRE FAMILY

The room spun.

I gripped the doorframe to keep from falling.

"You're lying," I choked out. "My mother died in a car accident."

Elena laughed. It was a dry, hollow sound.

"A car accident? Is that what the foster agency told you?"

She looked down at Anthony, who was breathing heavily, his eyes squeezed shut in shame.

"Tell her, Anthony," Elena whispered, tracing the needle along his jawline. "Tell the girl why you killed her mother."

Luca stepped forward, his gun perfectly leveled at his mother's chest.

"Stop this, Elena. Let him go."

"He destroyed my life, Luca!" Elena snapped, her calm facade finally cracking. "And he destroyed hers! Twenty years ago, Emily's mother was a bookkeeper for this family. She found out Anthony was skimming money from the syndicate to pay off his gambling debts."

I stared at the old man.

The man I had cared for. The man I had risked my job to protect.

"She was going to go to the police," Elena continued. "So Anthony had her brakes cut. He let her die, and he let two innocent children go into the system to cover his tracks."

Tears streamed down my face.

David stood beside me, his fists clenched so tight his knuckles were white.

"You killed her," David whispered, his voice trembling with rage.

Anthony opened his eyes.

He looked at me.

A single tear rolled down his wrinkled cheek.

He didn't speak. But his silence was a confession.

"You see, Luca?" Elena smiled. "Your father is a monster. He deserves this."

She raised the syringe.

"NO!" I screamed.

I didn't know why I did it.

After everything she just revealed, I should have wanted him dead.

But I launched myself forward, tackling Elena around the waist just as she plunged the needle down.

The syringe missed Anthony's neck and drove deep into the leather back of the wheelchair.

Elena shrieked, backhanding me across the face.

I fell to the floor, my lip splitting open, tasting copper.

"Emily!" Luca yelled.

Before Elena could pull the syringe out for a second attempt, Luca crossed the room and grabbed his mother's wrist.

He twisted it hard.

Elena cried out, dropping the needle.

Luca pushed her back against the table and pinned her hands.

"It's over," Luca said, his voice thick with emotion. "It's over, Mother."

Elena stared up at him, her chest heaving. "You're choosing him? After everything he's done?"

"I'm choosing not to let my family become murderers tonight," Luca said.

He looked back at his guards, who were rushing into the room.

"Take her to the basement," Luca ordered. "Hold her there until I decide what to do."

The guards grabbed Elena. She didn't fight anymore. She just looked at me with cold, dead eyes as they dragged her away.

Luca quickly untied Marco and Vanessa.

Marco fell to his knees, sobbing. "I'm sorry, Luca. I'm so sorry."

"Get out of my sight," Luca snarled. "Both of you."

Vanessa didn't need to be told twice. She bolted for the door.

Marco slowly got up and stumbled out into the hallway.

The room was finally quiet.

Just Luca. Anthony. David. And me.

I sat on the floor, wiping the blood from my lip.

David rushed over and helped me up, pulling me into a tight hug. "Are you okay, Em? Are you okay?"

"I'm okay," I whispered, burying my face in his shoulder.

Luca walked over to us.

He looked at me, his eyes full of guilt.

"Emily. I didn't know. I swear to God, I didn't know about your mother."

I looked at him. Then I looked at Anthony.

"I want to quit," I said, my voice trembling. "I want to leave this house and never come back."

Luca nodded slowly. "I understand. I'll make sure you and David have enough money to disappear. To start over."

He reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out a heavy, iron key.

"This goes to the safe in my office," Luca said, handing it to David. "There's half a million dollars inside. Take it. Go out the back. My men will escort you."

David took the key, his eyes wide.

"Thank you," David whispered.

David grabbed my hand and pulled me toward the door.

We were finally free.

But as we stepped into the hallway, Anthony suddenly spoke.

His voice was raspy, broken, and desperate.

"Wait."

I stopped and looked back.

Anthony was pointing a shaking finger at David.

"The boy," Anthony wheezed. "The necklace."

I looked at David. He was still holding the emerald necklace in his free hand.

"What about it?" Luca asked his father.