Chapter 10 - The Master of the House
The local police arrived exactly thirty minutes later to clean up the absolute wreckage of the estate.
Tomas was heavily handcuffed and dragged away screaming, his ambitious empire dreams shattered forever.
Adriana was loaded onto an ambulance stretcher under heavy police guard.
She would ultimately survive her gunshot wound, but she would spend the rest of her miserable life in federal prison.
Ronan Castellano stood quietly in the ruined foyer, watching the broken pieces of his marriage be carried out the door.
He looked incredibly tired, but the heavy, suffocating burden of betrayal had finally been lifted from his shoulders.
Mave stood quietly in the corner, her apron torn and her face heavily bruised from the fight.
Ronan walked over to her respectfully and gently handed her a cool glass of water.
"You saved my life tonight, Mave," he said softly, with profound gratitude in his voice.
"You saved mine first, sir," she replied humbly with a small, respectful bow.
Ronan smiled warmly, a genuine expression of peace that finally reached his tired gray eyes.
"You are no longer a maid in this house," he declared firmly and loudly enough for everyone to hear.
"From now on, you are the head of my estate and my most trusted personal advisor."
Mave felt warm tears of joy welling up in her eyes as she gratefully accepted her completely new life.
The terrible nightmare was finally over, and the beautiful house was peaceful once again.
Three weeks later, the grand mansion had been completely repaired and beautifully restored to its former glory.
Mave was carefully moving a heavy portrait of the Castellano family to dust the wall behind it.
Her hand brushed against something unexpectedly small, hard, and strangely cold attached to the plaster.
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It was a tiny, high-tech microphone, completely hidden in the shadows with a red light blinking steadily to show it was currently recording.
Beneath the glowing device, she recognized the deadly crest of the Russian syndicate, meaning the real war had only just begun.
