LOGIN[A Month Later]Roderick was awake in the hospital, though he still looked exhausted. The doctor stood beside his bed, checking his vitals and examining him while Victor remained nearby, watching quietly. After going through the monitors and checking Roderick's condition, the doctor finally straightened and looked at Victor.“His vitals are stable now. He's still very weak, which is expected considering how long he's been unconscious, but there's no immediate cause for concern. We'll continue monitoring him for the next few days and run some additional tests before we can officially discharge him.”Victor nodded, glancing briefly at Roderick before looking back at the doctor. “Okay, Doctor. Thank you.”“Try not to overexert yourself,” the doctor advised Roderick. “Your body needs time to recover, so get as much rest as you can.”Roderick gave a faint nod, and the doctor gathered his things before leaving the room. Once the door closed behind him, Victor turned his attention back to R
“You're leaving?” June asked in disbelief as she sat across from Camille in the penthouse living room.Camille had just dropped the bomb that she was packing up and leaving Crown City for good.“But isn't that too sudden? I mean, I didn't expect you to want to leave already,” June added, her voice held disbelief in it.“I just want to leave Crown City,” Camille said, leaning back as her eyes swept over the room. “This place is filled with bad memories. A lot has happened, and I'm worried about the effects it'll have on my son. Sure, we have some good memories, but I don't want Adrian being anywhere near this city.” “What about him? Roderick, I mean. He's still in a coma, and it's uncertain when he's waking up. For one, I thought you'd wait for him to wake up before leaving with Adrian.” June said.“You said so yourself, it's uncertain when he'd wake up,” Camille replied softly, a resoluteness in her gaze. “And I don't want him trying to stop me, or Adrian refusing to leave.”“Sure, I
Vanessa came back to herself slowly, the darkness behind the blindfold absolute. Her wrists ached where the rough rope bit into the skin, and every small movement made the bindings dig deeper. Her ankles were secured just as tightly to the legs of the chair. She felt cold, mostly due to the air in the room and the faint smell of damp concrete and old wood. She shifted her weight and heard the scrape of the chair legs against a hard floor. “Who's there?! Anyone?! Let me out!” She tugged hard against the rope bound to her wrists.She heard footsteps approaching and they stopped directly in front of her. A pair of hands reached up, gripped the edge of the blindfold, and pulled it away in one clean motion.Light flooded her eyes as she blinked rapidly until the room dimmed into focus. Grey concrete walls and a single bare bulb hanging from the ceiling. Wooden shelves stacked with dusty boxes and forgotten storage and recognition hit her all at once. She was in the estate’s basement.
Vanessa left the morgue with her scarf pulled low and her dark glasses back in place. She walked straight to the main information desk on the ground floor, forcing her expression into something softer and more vulnerable. When the nurse looked up, Vanessa removed the glasses for a moment, letting the woman see her red, swollen eyes. “I’m looking for Roderick King,” she said quietly. “I’m his stepmother. I just heard he was brought in and I… I need to see him. Please.” The nurse’s face softened with sympathy. She checked the system, then wrote a room number on a small piece of paper and slid it across the counter. “He’s in the private wing, third floor. Room 318. Visiting hours are still open for family.” “Thank you.” Vanessa whispered. She took the paper, put her glasses back on, and walked toward the elevators without looking back. The moment she disappeared around the corner, the nurse picked up the internal phone and spoke in a low voice. “She’s on her way to his room.”
Victor’s study was quiet. He sat at his desk going through some papers when a knock came at the door. A moment later it opened.The lawyer stepped inside carrying his briefcase and shut the door behind him.“Good afternoon, Mr. Valdez,” he said as he walked toward the desk. The two men shook hands.“Daniel, it’s good that you came immediately. Please, have a seat.” Victor gestured to the chair across from him.Daniel sat down as Victor pushed the file across the desk.“I need you to examine this carefully. I obtained that information from someone just recently.”Daniel opened the file and scanned the receipts inside. Then he picked up the flash drive, took out his laptop, and plugged it in. He opened the first audio file as the recording began to play.« Vanessa: “I don’t care how you do it, make it look like an accident. Just do something to get rid of her and not raise suspicion.” Dante: “And the payment?” Vanessa: “You’ll get half of the payment after I end this call. The res
Victor arrived at the quiet residential building on the outskirts of the city. The location Dante had sent was modest, almost deliberately ordinary. He stepped out of the car, adjusted his coat, and walked up to the door. He didn’t bother knocking twice as the door opened before he could.Dante stood there, still bandaged on one arm and with fading bruises on his face. He looked tense, eyes constantly flicking past Victor toward the street as if expecting someone else to appear.“Come in,” Dante muttered, stepping aside.They walked into the small living room in silence. The curtains were drawn with a single lamp on.“Good day, Mr. Valdez,” Dante said carefully.Victor didn’t return the greeting. He stopped a few feet away and looked at the younger man with cold, assessing eyes.“I want to make sure I came here for the right thing,” Victor said. “You told me you have proof that my wife was murdered… because you did it.”“Yes. I was ordered to do it. She’s after my life right now, and
Roderick’s black Bentley rolled smoothly into the villa’s courtyard. The chauffeur quickly stepped out and opened the door for him. Roderick emerged, adjusting his cufflinks, still carrying the faint scent of Taylor’s perfume on his skin. He expected silence and order, the way things always were.
Roderick King woke up to an empty bed.The space beside him was cold, the sheets untouched. His eyes narrowed as he sat up, scanning the room. That was when he saw it — Camille’s wedding ring, placed neatly on the bedside desk like a quiet declaration of war. He stared at it for several seconds. D
“A divorce?” Roderick asked like he didn't hear her the first time. “Is this some kind of joke? Not a good time to play silly games with me, Camille.”Camille lifted her chin, even as fresh tears burned her eyes. “I said I want a divorce. Does that sound like a joke to you, Roderick?”He stared at
Camille sat on the edge of the king-sized bed, phone clutched tightly in her hand as the clock struck 10:17 p.m. She had called Roderick’s line twenty-three times. Twenty-three unanswered calls. Each one rang until it went to voicemail, his deep voice coolly instructing callers to leave a message.







