บททั้งหมดของ FRAMED FOR MURDER WHILE PREGNANT: NOW I'M THE MAFIA'S WIFE: บทที่ 21 - บทที่ 30

Von’s POV The attack came at midnight.Four men with makeshift weapons, moving silently through the darkened cell block. My cellmate the one who'd threatened me earlier led them, gold teeth gleaming in the emergency lighting.I'd been expecting it. Marcus's guard had warned me, slipped me a weapon a sharpened piece of metal, not much but better than nothing. I'd spent the evening preparing, mentally mapping escape routes that didn't exist, calculating angles in a space designed for death."Sorry, Castellano," my cellmate whispered as they surrounded my bunk. "Nothing personal. Just fifty grand I can't pass up.""Everything's personal," I said, and moved.The sharpened metal caught the first attacker in the shoulder, not a kill shot but enough to make him scream. The noise brought guards running too slow, too late, exactly as planned.I fought like my father had taught me, like I'd sworn I'd never fight again. Brutal, efficient, targeting vulnerabilities. Knee to groin, elbow to throa

Marissa POV Solitary confinement was a six by eight concrete box where time lost meaning.No windows. No clock. Just fluorescent lights that never dimmed and silence so complete I could hear my own heartbeat. They'd left me here for what felt like days but could have been hours, monitoring through a camera in the corner that watched my every breath.I'd stopped trying to sleep. Instead, I sat cross legged on the metal bunk, hands pressed to my barely swollen stomach, thinking about the baby growing inside me a child conceived through violation, carried through hell, belonging to no one but me.The riot had been easier than expected. Three guards, all men, all underestimating a pregnant woman. I'd used their assumptions against them, played weak until I wasn't, let rage guide my hands. The crack of breaking bone had been satisfying. The blood more so.Jade had helped, creating chaos while I targeted the threats. Even Sarah had participated, tiny fists flying with surprising viciousnes

Von POV The tunnel crawl back was harder than the approach blood loss making me dizzy, pain from my punctured lung radiating with every movement. But I made it, emerged in the storage closet where Marcus waited with medical supplies and dark news."Chris is gone," he said without preamble. "Left County General four hours ago, location unknown. We had people watching, but he slipped surveillance. Either he's smarter than we thought or someone helped him disappear.""Richard," I said. "Hiding his asset. Probably realized we were searching, moved Chris somewhere secure.""Or Chris is running. Knows he's dying, wants to use his final days somewhere other than prison or under Richard's control." Marcus helped me back to the medical wing. "We'll find him. I have every resource searching. But Von, we might not find him in time. Poison's advanced doctors gave him weeks at most.""Then we find him in days. Whatever it takes." I collapsed onto the gurney, let the doctor resume working. "What a

Von POV Good Samaritan Hospital's ICU was a fortress of sterile white corridors and machines that beeped with mechanical indifference to human suffering. Marcus had people stationed at every entrance, every exit, every point where Chris Mason might escape or Richard's assassins might strike."He's in room 412," Marcus said as we approached. "Critical condition. Doctors give him hours, maybe a day. Multi organ failure from chronic heavy metal poisoning. He's been poisoning himself alongside Marissa for years, just didn't realize it.""Careless," I said."Or karmic." Marcus stopped outside the room. "Marissa's on her way. She insisted on being here when he wakes. Said she needed to see his face, needed him to know she won.""And Becca? My son?""Still searching. They've gone to ground completely." His jaw tightened. "But we'll find them. It's only a matter of time."Through the window, I could see Chris pale, skeletal, tubes and wires connecting him to machines that kept him breathing.

Von’s POV Through the hospital window, Chris's covered body was being prepared for the morgue. One conspiracy architect dead, the other about to be captured."We're winning," I said quietly."Winning feels like drowning," Marissa replied. "Just slower."Before I could respond, Marcus's phone buzzed with an alert. He checked it, face going white. "We have a massive problem.""What?"He turned the phone toward us. News headline, breaking: RICHARD HALE DEAD IN APPARENT SUICIDE AT LAX The article was sparse: Richard Hale collapsed at airport security, dead before paramedics arrived. Apparent cyanide poisoning. Suicide note found, claiming he couldn't live with his niece's false accusations, chose death over fighting lies."No," Marissa breathed. "No, he wouldn't ""It's fake," I said immediately. "Has to be. Richard wouldn't kill himself. He's too arrogant, too convinced he's smarter than everyone.""Then who killed him?" Catherine demanded.Marcus was already on his phone, coordinating