Chapter 8 - THE LAST VISITOR
Two hours later, the storm had passed, leaving behind a clear, crisp afternoon sky over the city of Ravenport.
At the Moretti Estate—a grand stone mansion sitting on a hill overlooking the harbor—the gates were surrounded by news vans, police cruisers, and reporters shouting questions into microphones.
Inside the quiet master bedroom, Elena Moretti sat in front of her vanity mirror.
She had stripped off her funeral clothes and was wearing a simple silk robe. Her diamond jewelry was packed into a leather suitcase resting on the bed behind her, along with two passports and stacks of bearer bonds she had pulled from the home safe.
Her hands shook violently as she applied lipstick, trying to restore some color to her deathly pale face.
"He won't come here," she whispered to her reflection, her voice hysterical and fragile. "The police are everywhere. He has to go to the hospital... he has to handle the company... he won't come here..."
"I'm already here, Elena."
Elena gasped, dropping her lipstick.
She turned around slowly, her heart stopping in her chest.
Adrian was standing in the doorway of their bedroom. He was wearing a fresh dark suit, his dark hair brushed back, his posture straight and powerful once more. He looked as if he had never been sick, never been poisoned, never spent a single second inside a coffin.
Elena backed away until her spine pressed against the vanity mirror, clutching her silk robe tightly against her chest.
"Adrian..." she whispered, her voice barely audible. "You're... you're really here."
"Did you expect someone else?" Adrian asked, his tone polite, almost conversational, as he walked slowly into the room. He looked around the bedroom they had shared for six years—the Italian marble fireplace, the oil paintings, the high ceilings. "It's a nice house, isn't it? My father bought it in 1985. He always said a home is only worth the peace you find inside it."
"Adrian, listen to me!" Elena begged, dropping to her knees on the rug, tears streaming down her face. "Marcus threatened me! He forced me to sign those documents! He said he would kill me if I didn't help him poison you! I loved you, Adrian! I never wanted you to die!"
Adrian stopped three feet away from her. He looked down at her, his eyes cold and empty, like winter ice.
"I lay in that coffin for two hours, Elena," Adrian said softly. "I heard every word you said after the mourners left."
Elena froze, her sobbing instantly cutting off.
"I heard you thank him for making the crash look real," Adrian continued, his voice dropping into a razor-sharp whisper. "I heard you laugh with relief because you thought you'd never have to look at my face again. I heard you ask him if I felt any pain."
Elena buried her face in her hands, her shoulders shaking violently as she wept in absolute shame and terror.
"You know what hurt the most, Elena?" Adrian asked, leaning down slightly so his face was close to hers. "It wasn't the poison. It wasn't the paralyzing cold. It was when you said you loved me once. Because that meant every smile, every touch, every promise you gave me for six years was just a transaction."
He stood up straight, pulling a thick Manila envelope from his jacket and tossing it onto the vanity table beside her packed suitcase.
"What... what is that?" she choked out.
"A full annulment and asset surrender agreement," Adrian said flatly. "You sign everything back to the Moretti foundation—the house, the accounts, the property. In exchange, my lawyers won't push for the federal death penalty on your conspiracy charges. You'll do twenty years in a maximum-security federal facility instead of dying by lethal injection."
Elena looked at the papers, then looked up at him with begging eyes. "Adrian... please... don't do this to me... I can't survive prison..."
"You survived six years living with me while planning my murder," Adrian replied coldly. "I think you're tougher than you look."
Heavy footsteps echoed up the grand marble staircase outside the bedroom. Two female federal agents stepped through the open door, accompanied by the Assistant District Attorney.
"Elena Moretti," the lead agent said, stepping forward with a pair of steel handcuffs. "You are under arrest for attempted capital murder, corporate fraud, and criminal conspiracy."
As the agents pulled Elena to her feet and clicked the steel cuffs around her wrists, she turned her head, looking back at Adrian one last time.
"Adrian!" she cried out as they dragged her through the door. "Adrian, please look at me! Say something!"
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Adrian didn't look at her. He turned toward the window, looking out over the clear blue waters of Ravenport Harbor, watching the cargo ships move smoothly across the bay under the bright afternoon sun.
"Goodbye, Elena," he whispered to the empty room.
