A Million Dollars Too Late Chapter 03

A Million Dollars Too Late Chapter 03

I wanted to scream at Marcello to get out. But my parents’ faces surfaced in my mind.

Five years ago, he didn’t pay off my family debt in one lump sum. He broke it into monthly deposits sent directly to my parents, spread over five years.

The reason was simple: to control me.

If I died—if Marcello stopped those payments—what would happen to my father and mother?

I gripped the bedsheets, forced myself upright, and bowed my head to him.

“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have lied to you. I shouldn’t have asked for that much money.”

“Marcello, I’ll keep being your little bird. I don’t want the million anymore.”

Those words cost me every shred of pride I had left.

Satisfaction flickered in Marcello’s eyes. He patted my cheek.

“There. That wasn’t so hard, was it?”

He pulled a key from his pocket and tossed it onto the nightstand.

“There’s some emerald pieces in the study safe. Gifts from business partners. Pick one.”

“Think of it as a reward for finally being reasonable.”

“I’ll be busy with Valeria for the next couple of days. Wedding dress fittings. Don’t call and bother me.”

The second he was gone, I grabbed the key. I could sell the jewelry. If I could just scrape together the treatment money, I still had a chance to live.

Half an hour later, I made it to the study. The vertigo was so bad I had to stop and lean against the wall every few steps.

The safe held several jewelry sets, just like Marcello said.

I was reaching for one when the study door flew open with a kick.

Valeria stood in the doorway in a white suit, four bodyguards behind her. She spotted the open safe and shrieked.

“I knew it! You thieving little bitch! You actually had the nerve to break into the Ravello safe?”

I held up the key.

“I didn’t steal anything. Marcello gave this to me.”

“You’re lying.”

She stormed up to me.

“Marcello already gave me the estate’s property inventory. Everything here belongs to me now.”

“What the hell are you to even touch my jewelry?”

She jerked her chin at the men behind her.

“Break her. Her hands. Her legs. I want her on the ground.”

All four bodyguards lunged. A kick slammed into my knee, and I dropped to the floor.

Valeria yanked out her phone, thrilled, and started a live stream. She aimed the camera straight at me.

“Look, everyone! This is her. Five years, still trying to keep her claws in my fiancé. She heard we’re getting married, so she broke into the safe to steal my jewelry.”

The viewer count skyrocketed. Comments flew across the screen.

[Beat her ass!]

[This whore really thought she could steal from the Don’s future wife?]

[Why hasn’t Marcello thrown her in the Chicago River yet?]

I curled on the floor. The pain in my head turned my vision blood-red.

The bodyguards’ shoes kept slamming into my back and stomach.

I stared desperately at the door.

Finally, the sound of leather-soled shoes echoed from the hallway.

Marcello appeared. I stretched a blood-smeared hand toward him. “Help me.”

He never even looked at me. Just stepped right over the blood on the floor and went straight to Valeria, pulling her into his arms. “Did she frighten you?”

Valeria melted against him, playing hurt. “She was stealing from us. I caught her.”

Only then did Marcello look at me. His eyes went cold. Deadly. “I should’ve known. You can’t be tamed.”

I was lying in a pool of my own blood. “You gave me the key. You told me to take the jewelry.”

Marcello didn’t answer. He held Valeria’s hand and spoke clearly into the still-running live stream. “I’ve already called the police. The Ravello family does not protect thieves.”

Five years together. Erased by one sentence from Valeria.

Ten minutes later, squad cars pulled up to the estate. Two officers hauled me out of the blood. Cold handcuffs snapped around my wrists.

Before they shoved me into the police car, I took one last look at Marcello.

He was bent over Valeria’s fingers, carefully wiping my blood off her skin. That was the moment my heart finally, completely, went cold.