Chapter 16 - The Shot
The gunshot echoed through the underground room.
Adrian hit the floor.
Richard reached for the weapon.
Vanessa kicked it beneath a cabinet.
Evelyn clutched Lily tighter.
“Don’t move!” an officer shouted from the hallway.
Richard grabbed Vanessa and pulled her in front of him.
Evelyn backed toward a second door.
I moved toward her.
“Give her to me.”
“You’re not stable.”
“My baby is crying.”
“You’re emotional.”
“Yes.”
The answer surprised her.
I took another step.
“I’m terrified.”
Evelyn’s eyes narrowed.
“I’m angry.”
Another step.
“And I’m still her mother.”
Lily reached toward me.
A tiny movement.
Barely anything.
But Evelyn looked down.
That was enough.
I grabbed Lily and turned my body away.
Evelyn clawed at my coat.
An officer tackled her.
We fell against the crib.
Pain tore through my abdomen.
I nearly dropped Lily.
Nearly.
My knees hit the floor.
I curled around her while officers restrained Evelyn.
Across the room, Richard held Vanessa by the throat.
Adrian pushed himself up.
The bullet had grazed his side.
He lunged at Richard.
They crashed into the wall.
Richard was weak from illness, but panic made him wild.
He struck Adrian’s injured shoulder.
Adrian cried out.
Vanessa grabbed the gun.
She pointed it at Richard.
Everyone froze.
Richard looked at her.
“You won’t.”
Vanessa’s hand trembled.
“You made me kill a baby.”
“You chose the promotion.”
Her face collapsed.
Because he was right.
She had chosen.
Richard smiled.
“You’re not a victim.”
Vanessa lowered the weapon.
“No.”
Then she placed it on the floor and stepped back.
“I’m not.”
Police arrested Richard without another shot.
Paramedics treated Adrian.
Lily had no injuries.
I had torn several stitches, but the doctors said I would recover.
Evelyn remained silent as they led her away.
At the elevator, she turned to Adrian.
“You’ll destroy everything.”
Adrian pressed a bandage against his side.
“No.”
He looked at Lily in my arms.
“I’m going to let it become something else.”
Evelyn laughed.
“You were never strong enough.”
Adrian watched her leave.
Then he whispered, “Maybe not.”
That was the first honest thing he had said about himself without asking me to comfort him.
Outside, dawn broke over the dead vineyard.
Vanessa sat in the back of a police car.
She had confessed to everything.
The medical records.
The affair.
The forged emails.
The drug in my coffee.
Before the door closed, she looked at me.
“I don’t expect forgiveness.”
“Good.”
She nodded.
Then she said, “Richard has one more file.”
“Where?”
“In the company server.”
“What file?”
Her eyes shifted toward Adrian.
May you like
“The one proving he knew you were pregnant before the divorce.”
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