Chapter 10 - NO LOOSE ENDS
There was only one ghost left to put to rest.
Elara sat at a corner table in a small, sunlit café in Paris. She sipped an espresso, watching the bustling street.
The bell above the door chimed, and a woman in a cheap trench coat walked in. It was Isabella. She looked thin, exhausted, and stripped of all her former glory. She froze when she saw Elara sitting in the booth.
Elara gestured gracefully to the empty seat across from her. Reluctantly, Isabella sat down.
"Did he send you to kill me?" Isabella whispered, her hands shaking as she clutched a cheap canvas purse.
"Dominic hasn't thought about you in six months," Elara said evenly. She slid a thick manila envelope across the table. "This is a new passport. A new identity. And a trust fund that will pay out five thousand euros a month for the rest of your life. On one condition."
Isabella stared at the envelope as if it were a bomb. "What condition?"
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"You forget how to speak English. You forget New York. You forget the name Salvatore. Because if you ever try to contact anyone from our past, I won't send Vincent. I'll come myself."
Isabella swallowed hard, her eyes filling with terrified tears, and nodded. She snatched the envelope and fled the café without looking back.
