CHAPTER 7: THE WOMAN WHO COULD NO LONGER RUN
CHAPTER 7: THE WOMAN WHO COULD NO LONGER RUN
Genevieve's hands trembled for the first time in years.
She shoved stacks of cash into a leather bag, grabbed the passport, and reached for the bedroom door.
It would not open.
A calm voice came from the hallway.
"Don't make this harder than it already is."
Adriano.
She slowly opened the door.
He stood outside with Marco Bellini and four members of his private security team.
There was no rage on his face.
Only disappointment.
A kind of disappointment that could never be repaired.
"You searched my safe?" Genevieve demanded.
"I didn't have to."
He held up the surveillance photographs.
"I only had to look at the truth."
Genevieve's confident smile finally cracked.
"You believe a stranger over your own wife?"
"I believe evidence."
She laughed bitterly.
"You always believed everyone except the people who loved you."
"Loved me?"
Adriano stepped closer.
"You ordered a man's death."
"I ordered your survival."
Silence filled the hallway.
Genevieve's voice became desperate.
"The Romano Syndicate offered me a deal."
Marco stared at her in disbelief.
She continued anyway.
"They promised the war would end if you disappeared."
Rebecca, standing at the far end of the hall with Clementine, felt the blood drain from her face.
Genevieve pointed at Adriano.
"I couldn't let them kill you."
"So you betrayed them instead?" Adriano asked quietly.
Genevieve nodded once.
"They wanted your convoy route."
"I gave them false information."
Her breathing became uneven.
"I never imagined they'd attack the wrong truck."
Rebecca whispered through tears,
"But after Thomas died..."
Genevieve lowered her eyes.
"I paid the police."
The words echoed like thunder.
"I made sure the investigation ended."
"I couldn't let anyone discover my connection."
Rebecca closed her eyes.
Three years.
Three years of unanswered questions.
Three years believing fate had stolen her husband.
Instead...
Someone had chosen silence over justice.
Clementine squeezed her mother's hand.
"Mommy..."
Rebecca knelt and hugged her tightly.
"It's over now, sweetheart."
"No," Adriano said softly.
"It's only beginning."
He turned to his security chief.
"Call the state police."
Genevieve stared in shock.
"You'd hand me over?"
"I should have chosen justice years ago."
Within thirty minutes, detectives arrived.
This time...
No one interfered.
No one bribed anyone.
Genevieve Falcone left the mansion in handcuffs, surrounded by cameras that once celebrated her charity galas.
As she stepped into the police vehicle, she looked back one last time.
Not at Adriano.
Not at the mansion.
At Rebecca.
Rebecca simply met her eyes without hatred.
Only sadness.
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Because hatred would have allowed Genevieve to keep controlling her heart.
Rebecca refused to give her that victory.
