Chapter 14 - THE FALL OF VIVIAN VALMONT
When the palace doors reopened, dawn was beginning to rise.
Police vehicles covered the estate.
Several senior officials attempted to leave, but federal agents blocked the driveway. The judicial server had received enough evidence to trigger international warrants before anyone in the ballroom understood what had happened.
Vivian was carried upstairs on a stretcher, handcuffed to the frame.
Her silver gown was stained with blood.
As she passed Clara, she smiled weakly.
“You think this is over?”
Clara stood beside Emma and said nothing.
Vivian turned her head toward Gabriel.
“They will never allow you to testify.”
Gabriel’s chest wound had been stopped by a protective plate Marcus had placed beneath his shirt before they entered the vault.
The bullet had broken two ribs but had not reached his heart.
He leaned closer to Vivian.
“I won’t need to testify. You confessed inside a room that records every voice.”
For the first time, Vivian’s smile disappeared.
She looked at Alessandro.
“You would expose the family?”
Alessandro’s injured shoulder was bandaged.
“There is no family worth protecting at the cost of children.”
“You will lose everything.”
“Then perhaps we should.”
Vivian was taken away.
Rosa survived surgery and agreed to cooperate with investigators in exchange for protection. The registry contained a possible location for her daughter, who had been living under another name in northern Italy.
Marcus ordered every member of palace security examined for Black Crown connections.
Seventeen guards were arrested before sunrise.
In a private sitting room, Clara watched Gabriel sleep beside Emma.
The little girl had refused to release his hand.
Clara wanted to feel only relief.
Instead, anger remained beneath her love.
Gabriel had survived.
But he had also abandoned them for eighteen months.
When he awakened, Clara was standing near the window.
“You should rest,” he said.
“So should you.”
“I thought I’d never see you again.”
“You decided I would never see you again.”
He looked at Emma.
“Vivian found me after the accident. I was injured. She said she would kill you both if I escaped.”
“You could have sent a message.”
“I tried.”
“Not enough.”
Gabriel lowered his eyes.
“You’re right.”
Clara had expected excuses.
His agreement made the pain worse.
“I buried an empty coffin.”
“I know.”
“I told our daughter her father had become a star because I didn’t know how to explain death to her.”
Gabriel’s eyes filled with tears.
“I heard her voice sometimes. Vivian played recordings taken from your apartment.”
Clara turned sharply.
“She watched us?”
“For years.”
“Why?”
“I don’t know.”
Clara noticed something in his expression.
“You do know.”
Gabriel looked toward the closed door.
“Vivian was not the highest authority in Lazarus.”
“Who was?”
“My mother believed the program had another director. Someone whose identity never appeared in the official records.”
“Your grandfather?”
“No.”
Gabriel slowly sat up.
“The director used a title.”
“What title?”
“The Shepherd.”
Clara felt the name settle over the room.
Gabriel reached for the blue rabbit.
“The map contained locations for twenty-seven original children. Twenty-six files had been marked inactive.”
“And yours?”
“Mine was still open.”
Clara looked at Emma.
“Why?”
“Because the program was never only about me.”
He opened the rabbit’s second ear.
Inside was a strip of paper Clara had never seen.
Two names were printed on it.
May you like
Adrian Valmont.
Emma Bennett.
