Chapter 10 - The False Victory
The hospital room was completely quiet, save for the steady beeping of Luca’s heart monitor.
I sat in the chair beside his bed, watching him sleep peacefully.
The twins were safely curled up on the small sofa in the corner, finally getting some rest.
Evelyn was officially locked in federal custody, facing decades in prison for attempted murder and fraud.
The judge had entirely dropped the fake psychiatric hold against me.
Luca woke up slowly, his dark eyes instantly finding mine in the dim room.
"You stayed," he whispered, a genuine smile touching his tired lips.
"I couldn't leave you alone," I admitted softly.
He reached out and gently took my hand in his.
"I want to rebuild our family, Nia."
I looked over at the sleeping twins and felt a massive wave of relief wash over me.
"I want that too, Luca."
He reached into the drawer of his bedside table and pulled out a fresh stack of legal documents.
"I had my lawyers draft these up immediately," he said, handing them to me.
I looked at the top page and gasped.
He had officially signed over full, uncontested legal custody of the twins completely to me.
"You don't have to fight me anymore, Nia, you are entirely safe now," he promised.
Tears of pure joy fell freely down my cheeks.
I leaned over and kissed him softly, feeling the old, undeniable spark reignite between us.
He smiled warmly and closed his eyes to rest again.
I stood up to get a glass of water from the small kitchenette in the suite.
While pouring the water, my foot bumped against Luca’s expensive leather briefcase on the floor.
The heavy bag tipped over, spilling a few files and a small, silver flash drive onto the linoleum.
I picked up the drive to put it back, but my curiosity suddenly got the better of me.
I plugged the small device into the hospital’s patient computer terminal on the desk.
The screen lit up, displaying a single, highly encrypted audio file.
I clicked play, keeping the volume incredibly low.
The recording was undeniably Luca's voice, speaking clearly to a private investigator.
"Pay Evelyn whatever she wants to take the fall for the forged fertility documents," Luca's recorded voice commanded effortlessly.
"Are you absolutely sure about this, Mr. Moretti?" the investigator asked on the tape.
"Yes, she served her purpose, and now I need Nia to believe I was the victim all along."
I stared at the computer screen in complete, paralyzing horror.
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Evelyn had never manipulated my billionaire ex-husband into anything.
Luca had intentionally orchestrated the entire divorce, the fake infertility, and the deadly shootout just to break my spirit so completely that I would crawl desperately back into his absolute control forever.
