Chapter 12 - The Evidence They Couldn't Erase
Police sirens sounded outside.
Lorenzo looked at Isabella.
“You called them?”
“No.”
Daniel answered.
“I did.”
Marcus laughed bitterly.
“You think this ends with me?”
Isabella stepped closer.
“It ends with your records.”
She opened the envelope Daniel had found.
Inside were copies of bank transfers, forged signatures, payments to gunmen, and instructions from Marcus to Arthur.
Every transaction had a date.
Every payment had a recipient.
The conspiracy was no longer a theory.
It was documented.
Marcus looked at Arthur.
Arthur looked away.
The partnership collapsed in seconds.
Arthur began blaming Marcus.
Marcus blamed Arthur.
But Lorenzo did not listen.
He walked toward Camila.
“I am sorry.”
She looked at him.
“You didn't know.”
“I should have.”
“So should I.”
They stood silently.
Their wedding had been destroyed.
But they were alive.
And for the first time, neither family was being manipulated by fear.
Later that morning, Marcus and Arthur were taken away.
The cathedral slowly emptied.
Isabella stood alone beside the marble altar.
Blood had dried on her sleeve.
Lorenzo approached.
“You saved my life.”
She looked away.
“I did what I had to do.”
“No.”
He shook his head.
“You did more than that.”
Isabella finally looked at him.
“You trusted me.”
Lorenzo smiled faintly.
“Eventually.”
She almost laughed.
Then he became serious.
“I want you to stay.”
Isabella frowned.
“As a maid?”
“As someone I can trust.”
She didn't answer.
Because staying meant facing everything she had spent years running from.
May you like
And she still had one unfinished promise.
To Daniel.
