Chapter 11 - BENEATH THE STAGE
Clara struck stone.
Pain tore through her shoulder.
Dust filled her mouth.
Broken boards crashed around her.
Somewhere nearby, Vivian screamed.
Above them, gunfire thundered through the theater.
Clara tried to move.
Her left arm refused to obey.
She forced herself onto her knees.
“Alessandro!”
No answer came.
A dim emergency lamp flickered along the underground wall.
The collapse had dropped them into a narrow corridor beneath the stage.
Vivian lay several feet away.
Blood marked her white dress.
One ankle bent beneath her.
The blade remained in her hand.
Clara crawled backward.
Vivian opened her eyes.
“You.”
She dragged herself upright.
Her face had lost all elegance.
Dust covered her hair.
Blood ran from her forehead.
“You took everything.”
Clara looked toward the ceiling.
“I exposed what you did.”
“You were a maid.”
“I still am.”
Vivian laughed weakly.
“No.”
She pointed the blade toward her.
“You stopped being a maid when Alessandro looked at you.”
Clara’s fear sharpened into understanding.
“This was never only about the rabbit.”
Vivian’s expression twisted.
“He was supposed to marry me.”
“You said he was using me.”
“He was supposed to use everyone except me.”
The childish selfishness of the sentence stunned Clara.
“You murdered people because a man did not love you?”
“I preserved my family.”
“You planned to rob your father.”
“He planned to replace me with my brother.”
“You kidnapped a child.”
“That child carried a cipher.”
“She carried a stuffed rabbit.”
“She carried the reason Alessandro humiliated me.”
Vivian dragged herself closer.
“He corrected me in front of everyone.”
“You slapped her mother.”
“You made me look weak.”
“No.”
Clara forced herself to stand despite the pain.
“You did that alone.”
Vivian lunged.
Clara caught her wrist.
They struck the wall.
The blade slid between them.
Vivian was injured but stronger than Clara expected.
She drove her forehead into Clara’s face.
Clara stumbled.
Vivian slashed.
The blade cut Clara’s sleeve.
Clara seized a broken piece of wood and struck Vivian’s hand.
The knife fell.
Vivian kicked it toward the darkness.
Then she grabbed Clara’s injured shoulder.
Clara cried out.
Vivian smiled.
“Where is Emma?”
“Far from you.”
“Daniel will bring her back.”
“No.”
“He has always chosen fear over family.”
“You do not know him.”
“I know exactly what he costs.”
Vivian shoved Clara against the wall.
“I offered him ten million euros to disappear.”
Clara froze.
Vivian saw the reaction.
“He did not tell you?”
“That is a lie.”
“He refused at first.”
“Stop.”
“Then Marco showed him the money.”
“Stop.”
“He took it.”
Clara struck her.
Vivian laughed.
“He took every euro.”
“You controlled his accounts.”
“Yes.”
“And he used the money to follow your transfers.”
Vivian’s smile weakened.
Clara realized she had guessed correctly.
Daniel had accepted the money to create a trace.
“You did not know that part,” Clara said.
Vivian attacked again.
Clara ducked.
Vivian’s injured ankle collapsed.
She fell against the stone.
Clara saw the blade in the darkness.
She reached it first.
Vivian looked up.
For once, fear entered her eyes.
“Do it.”
Clara held the blade.
“Prove you belong in Alessandro’s world.”
Clara lowered it.
“I do not belong to his world.”
She kicked the knife into a drainage channel.
“And I will not become you to survive it.”
Vivian’s fear turned back into hatred.
A heavy door opened at the far end of the corridor.
Marco entered holding a pistol.
His suit was torn.
Blood marked his collar.
“Move away from her.”
Clara stepped back.
Marco helped Vivian stand.
She immediately slapped him.
“You let them replace the feed.”
“I did not control the theater system.”
“You control nothing.”
Marco’s eyes hardened.
For the first time, Clara saw that his loyalty was beginning to fracture.
Vivian pointed toward Clara.
“Kill her.”
Marco raised the pistol.
Clara stood still.
“Before you do, ask what happens when Vivian opens the Romano vault.”
He hesitated.
Vivian glared at her.
“Shoot.”
Clara continued.
“She plans to transfer every account.”
“She promised me twenty percent.”
“She promised Father Matteo forgiveness.”
Marco’s jaw tightened.
“She promised Vittorio the Moretti territory.”
Vivian stepped closer.
“Do not listen.”
Clara looked at Marco.
“What did she promise you after Alessandro was dead?”
“A position.”
“Whose position?”
Marco did not answer.
Clara did.
“Her father’s.”
Vivian’s face changed.
Marco saw it.
“She promised you the Romano empire,” Clara said.
“But she will not share it.”
“Kill her,” Vivian ordered.
Marco turned the pistol toward Vivian.
“Is that true?”
She laughed.
“You think you can threaten me?”
“Answer.”
“You were a guard when I found you.”
“I built your network.”
“You followed instructions.”
“I betrayed a man who treated me like a brother.”
Vivian smiled coldly.
“And now you want gratitude?”
Marco’s hand trembled.
A shot echoed through the corridor.
Vivian gasped.
Blood spread across her side.
Marco stared at the pistol in his own hand as if someone else had fired it.
Vivian sank to the floor.
“You…”
Marco stepped backward.
“I gave you everything.”
Vivian pressed both hands against the wound.
“You were always disposable.”
A second shot came from the doorway.
Marco’s pistol flew from his hand.
Alessandro entered with Don Ricci and three guards.
He crossed the corridor and struck Marco to the ground.
Clara sagged against the wall.
Alessandro reached her.
“Are you hurt?”
“My shoulder.”
He examined the cut in her sleeve.
“Emma?”
“Safe.”
“Where?”
“With Daniel.”
Alessandro looked toward Vivian.
She remained conscious.
Her eyes filled with hatred as she watched him touch Clara’s shoulder.
“You chose her.”
Alessandro’s expression was empty.
“I chose against you years ago.”
“You needed my family.”
“I needed peace.”
“You needed me.”
“No.”
The single word hurt her more than the gunshot.
Vivian laughed weakly.
“You think this is over?”
Alessandro turned toward the guards.
“Call a doctor.”
Vivian stared at him.
“You are saving me?”
“No.”
Clara answered for him.
“You are going to live long enough to hear every family learn the truth.”
A phone rang in the corridor.
Don Ricci answered.
His face became grave.
“What happened?” Alessandro asked.
The old man lowered the phone.
“Vittorio escaped.”
“Where?”
“He took Daniel and Emma.”
Clara’s blood froze.
May you like
Don Ricci continued.
“And he has the account seals.”
