Chapter 7 - BURIED BENEATH THE ROSES
The rain pounded against the glass roof of the greenhouse, a deafening drumbeat that masked the heavy silence between us.
Vanessa stood in the doorway, her red silk gown ruined by the mud and rain. Her hair was plastered to her face, and her makeup ran down her cheeks in dark streaks.
The silver derringer in her hand was small, but at this distance, it was lethal.
The two guards flanking me instantly raised their weapons, aiming squarely at her head.
“Drop the gun, Vanessa!” one of the guards shouted.
Vanessa didn't flinch. Her wild, terrified eyes were locked entirely on me, and the black ledger I clutched to my chest.
“Tell them to lower their guns, Emily,” Vanessa screamed, her voice cracking with hysteria. “Or I swear to God I’ll shoot you!”
I swallowed hard, my heart hammering in my throat.
“Lower your weapons,” I told the guards quietly.
They hesitated.
“Do it,” I insisted.
The guards slowly lowered their guns, though they kept their hands hovering near the triggers.
I took a slow step forward.
“Vanessa,” I said, keeping my voice as calm and steady as I could. “Richard killed your father. This ledger proves it. Why are you pointing a gun at me to protect the man who ruined your family?”
Vanessa let out a jagged, broken sob.
“I’m not protecting him!” she cried, her hand shaking so violently the gun wavered. “I’m protecting myself!”
I frowned. “From what? You were a victim. Richard forced you into this engagement.”
“You don't understand!” Vanessa shrieked, tears pouring down her face. “Richard didn't just force me to marry Adrian! He forced me to prove my loyalty to him before he would spare my life!”
A sickening realization began to settle in my stomach.
“What did he make you do, Vanessa?” I asked softly.
Vanessa squeezed her eyes shut.
“Clara,” she whispered.
The name hung in the damp air of the greenhouse like a ghost.
“Clara’s car,” Vanessa confessed, sobbing uncontrollably now. “Richard told me if I didn't cut the brake lines on her car, he would murder my father. I didn't want to! I swear I didn't want to! But I wanted to save my dad!”
My breath caught.
Vanessa hadn't just kept quiet about Richard’s crimes. She was the one who had physically sabotaged Clara’s car. She had murdered Leo’s mother.
And the ultimate tragic irony was that Richard had murdered her father anyway, just to tie up loose ends.
“If Adrian reads that ledger,” Vanessa wept, opening her eyes and aiming the gun back at my chest, “he’ll see my name. He’ll see that I was the one who did it. He’ll kill me, Emily. I can't let you bring that book inside.”
“Vanessa, you can't run from this,” I pleaded, taking another slow step toward her. “The police are already here. Listen to the sirens. The estate is surrounded. If you shoot me, you’ll spend the rest of your life in federal prison.”
“I’d rather be in prison than handed over to Adrian Moretti!” she screamed.
Suddenly, the glass doors behind Vanessa swung open violently.
Adrian stood in the doorway.
He was incredibly pale, holding his bleeding shoulder with one hand, leaning heavily on Marco for support. But his dark eyes were burning with a terrifying, absolute clarity.
He had heard her confession.
Vanessa spun around, gasping in terror as she saw the man she was supposed to marry.
“Adrian,” Vanessa choked out, stepping backward until she hit a wooden planting table.
Adrian didn't yell. He didn't raise a weapon.
He just stared at the woman who had killed his wife.
“You cut the lines,” Adrian said, his voice a hollow, devastating whisper.
Vanessa sobbed, shaking her head. “He made me do it, Adrian! He said he’d kill my father!”
“And you thought marrying me, sleeping in her bed, raising her son... you thought you could just live with that?” Adrian asked.
Vanessa raised the derringer, pointing it frantically between Adrian and me.
“Don't come any closer!” she shrieked.
I saw Marco’s hand slide toward his holster, preparing to put a bullet between Vanessa’s eyes.
But I couldn't let it happen. I couldn't let more blood spill in front of this family.
“Vanessa, look at me!” I shouted, stepping directly between her and Adrian.
I held the black ledger up in the air.
“You were a victim of Richard’s cruelty, Vanessa!” I yelled over the rain. “He used you. He destroyed your family, and he made you destroy this one. But if you pull that trigger tonight, you aren't a victim anymore. You become exactly like him.”
Vanessa stared at me, her chest heaving.
“Put the gun down,” I said softly, lowering the ledger. “Let the police handle Richard. Let the justice system handle you. Don't die in this greenhouse for a man who hates you.”
For ten agonizing seconds, nobody moved. The only sound was the rain hammering the glass.
Then, slowly, Vanessa’s hand dropped.
The silver derringer slipped from her fingers, clattering onto the concrete floor.
She collapsed to her knees, burying her face in her hands, weeping with the total exhaustion of a woman whose soul had been crushed by the mafia.
Marco stepped forward and kicked the gun away, securing her arms behind her back.
I exhaled a breath I felt like I had been holding for three years.
I turned and handed the heavy black ledger and the rusted revolver to Adrian.
Adrian took them, his good hand brushing against mine. His fingers were cold, his strength rapidly failing.
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“You got it,” Adrian whispered, looking at the evidence that would finally bring his uncle down.
Then, his eyes rolled back, and he collapsed onto the damp floor of the greenhouse.
