Chapter 7 - Vivian Returned With a Gun to My Daughter’s Head—Then Emma Whispered the One Sentence That Saved All Our LivesVivian returned at midnight.
She entered through the east gate.
No guards.
No entourage.
Just a gun.
And Emma was with her.
My scream echoed through the mansion.
“Emma!”
Vivian held the gun against my daughter's shoulder.
“Stay back.”
Alessandro stepped forward.
“Let her go.”
Vivian smiled.
“You finally understand.”
“You're finished.”
“No.”
She shook her head.
“You're finished.”
She looked at me.
“Your husband discovered too much.”
“You killed him.”
“Yes.”
The admission broke something inside me.
“Why?”
“Because he wouldn't stop.”
“You could have threatened him.”
“I did.”
“You could have bribed him.”
“I did.”
“You killed him anyway.”
She smiled.
“He chose you.”
My heart shattered.
“What?”
“He chose his family over the organization.”
Vivian looked at Alessandro.
“Just like you were always going to choose yours.”
Alessandro's jaw tightened.
“You were never my family.”
She flinched.
For the first time, I saw pain in her eyes.
Then Emma whispered:
“Mr. Bunny says look at her shoes.”
I looked.
Vivian's shoes were covered in white dust.
Flour.
The same flour used in the bakery kitchen.
Why?
Then I remembered.
The storage room.
The ventilation system.
The secret tunnel.
Vivian had entered through the old bakery beneath the villa.
I looked at Alessandro.
He understood.
“Marco.”
“Yes.”
“Cut the lights.”
The mansion went dark.
Vivian panicked.
Emma dropped to the floor.
I lunged.
Alessandro moved simultaneously.
The gun fired.
The bullet struck the wall.
Marco tackled Vivian.
I grabbed Emma.
We ran.
When the lights returned, Vivian was gone.
But she had left something behind.
A note.
I picked it up.
Three words.
ASK YOUR MOTHER.
I stared.
May you like
My mother had been dead for five years.
Or so I believed.
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