Chapter 10 - The Last Secret
I scrambled blindly toward Lily's voice, pulling her small body tightly against my chest.
A flashlight suddenly clicked on, sweeping across the dirt floor of the tunnel.
Dominic stood over the lifeless body of Dr. Harris, holding his bloody tactical knife.
He dropped the blade and rushed over to us, dropping to his knees to pull all three of us into a fierce embrace.
"It's over," Dominic whispered into my hair, his voice thick with uncharacteristic emotion.
"You are all safe now."
The local authorities arrived twenty minutes later, completely loyal to Dominic's payroll and ready to clean up the mess.
Vincent was dragged out of the mansion in heavy chains, destined for a very deep hole in the ocean.
Over the next few weeks, the massive Westchester estate was completely transformed into a true fortress.
Dominic refused to let me and Lily return to the cramped staff quarters.
He moved us into the luxurious guest wing, treating us not as employees, but as honored members of his own family.
Ethan and Lily became inseparable, playing safely in the gardens under the watchful eyes of heavily armed guards.
One quiet evening, Dominic walked into my new suite and handed me a beautifully forged set of adoption papers.
He wanted to make Lily a permanent part of the Moretti legacy, promising to protect us for the rest of our lives.
I cried tears of genuine joy, finally feeling like the nightmare was completely behind us.
Our family was finally safe, whole, and completely untouchable.
As I pulled out a dusty box of Lily's old toys from beneath her bed, the exact silver container the killer had used to poison Ethan's cake slipped from the bottom and clattered onto the floor.
My hands shook uncontrollably as I popped the tiny lid open to reveal a folded, handwritten note sitting inside.
May you like
"This should be enough to finish the Moretti boy, Nora," the note read in my supposedly deceased husband's unmistakable handwriting.
"Do your job tonight, and I will finally come take you and Lily home."
