Chapter 7 - [THE NURSE'S CONFESSION]
"Mom?" I gasped, my knees nearly buckling.
Helen Bennett, pale but standing tall, walked into the library.
"I'm okay, Sophie," she said gently. "Mrs. Ellis called me twenty minutes ago. Dominic’s men picked me up from the house before Margaret's thugs even arrived."
Margaret stared at my mother, her mouth hanging open. "You... you were supposed to be dealt with."
"You should have dealt with me ten years ago, Margaret," my mother said coldly. "When I walked out of that clinic with this boy."
She looked at Leo. The affection in her eyes was unmistakable.
Leo walked over and hugged her tightly.
"Thank you, Helen," he whispered.
Grace, still clutching her side, looked at Evelyn. "You're... you're my mother?"
Evelyn dropped the iron poker. It clattered against the hardwood floor. She rushed to Grace’s side, falling to her knees and gently touching Grace's tear-stained face.
"My beautiful girl," Evelyn wept. "I'm so sorry. I tried to come back for you. I tried every day."
Grace buried her face in Evelyn’s shoulder, weeping openly.
Margaret watched the reunion with pure disgust. "How touching. A family of bastards and traitors."
Dominic walked up to Margaret. He didn't yell. He didn't raise a hand.
He simply leaned down, his face inches from hers.
"The wedding is off," Dominic said quietly. "The trust is frozen. And your offshore accounts are currently being drained by my accountants using the numbers from Leo's watch."
Margaret’s eyes bulged. "You can't do that! That's my money!"
"It was never your money," Dominic said. "It was my family's. And now, you have nothing."
Sirens wailed in the distance, growing louder as they approached the mansion.
Margaret panicked. She looked at the open window behind the sofa.
"I won't go to prison," she hissed. "I know too much about your operations, Dominic! If I go down, the Moretti family goes down with me!"
She scrambled over the back of the sofa, making a break for the open window.
Dominic didn't even try to stop her.
He just watched as she climbed onto the ledge.
"Margaret," Dominic called out.
She paused, looking back with a triumphant sneer. "Goodbye, Dominic."
"You might want to look down," he said calmly.
Margaret glanced out the window.
The blue and red lights of a dozen police cruisers were flashing directly below. The entire perimeter was surrounded by armed officers.
Margaret froze on the ledge.
"They aren't here for my family's business," Dominic said. "They're here for you. Kidnapping, extortion, attempted murder. Mrs. Ellis gave them everything."
Margaret let out a primal scream of rage.
She turned back to the room, her eyes locking onto me.
"This is your fault!" she shrieked, pointing at me. "If you had just kept your mouth shut about that tea!"
She grabbed a heavy bronze statue from the windowsill and hurled it directly at my head.
Before I could move, Dominic threw himself in front of me.
The statue struck him hard in the shoulder, knocking him to the floor.
I screamed, falling to my knees beside him. "Dominic!"
Margaret tried to jump, but two officers burst through the library doors, sprinting across the room and pulling her down from the ledge.
They slammed her onto the rug, snapping handcuffs onto her wrists.
"Let me go!" she shrieked, thrashing like a wild animal. "I am Margaret Harrington! I own this city!"
"Not anymore," Dominic groaned, sitting up and clutching his shoulder.
He looked at me. "Are you okay, Sophie?"
I nodded, tears of relief blurring my vision. "I'm okay. Because of you."
He smiled, a genuine, warm smile that reached his eyes.
The officers dragged Margaret out of the room, her screams fading down the hallway.
The nightmare was finally over.
But as the paramedics rushed in to treat Grace, Leo walked over to the shattered coffee table.
He picked up the silver tray I had dropped hours ago.
Underneath it was a single, sealed black envelope.
May you like
"Dominic," Leo said, his voice trembling. "This was taped to the bottom of the tray."
TITLE: THE BLACK ENVELOPE
