Chapter 3 - The Gilded Cage
The next two weeks turned the Vescari estate into a high-security prison.
Roman hired private mercenaries to guard every exit, completely cutting me off from the outside world.
Camille officially moved into the guest house across the courtyard.
She made a point of walking through the main gardens every morning, flaunting her presence.
I played the part of the broken, submissive wife perfectly.
I nodded when Roman spoke, ate quietly at dinner, and never asked to leave the property.
But inside, a cold, calculated fire was burning.
I needed to escape with Marco, and to do that, I needed cash.
One afternoon, while Roman and Camille were in the city, I sneaked into Roman’s private study.
I knew he kept a hidden wall safe behind the massive oil painting of his grandfather.
My hands shook as I spun the dial, entering the date of our wedding.
The heavy steel door clicked and swung open.
I expected to find stacks of emergency cash or fake passports.
Instead, the safe was completely empty except for a thick, manila folder.
I pulled the folder out, my heart pounding against my ribs.
The label on the tab read: HARTWELL ELIMINATION.
Hartwell was my maiden name.
I opened the file and began reading the documents inside.
There were photographs of my father’s car crash from seven years ago.
The police had ruled it a tragic accident caused by black ice on a mountain road.
But the documents in my hands were payment logs from the Vescari family to a mechanic.
The mechanic had been paid fifty thousand dollars to sever the brake lines on my father’s car.
Roman hadn't just married me; he had murdered my father to inherit the Hartwell real estate portfolio.
I clamped my hand over my mouth to muffle a sob of pure agony.
Suddenly, the heavy oak doors of the study clicked shut.
I spun around in absolute terror.
Camille was leaning against the closed doors, holding the master key.
"Snooping in the boss's office is a fatal offense, Elena," she smirked.
May you like
She pulled a suppressed pistol from her designer handbag and aimed it directly at my chest.
"Roman told me to handle the trash if you ever stepped out of line."
