I couldn't believe what I was hearing.
“Verona left that life five years ago. She's stayed clean ever since, and nobody has dared touch her, especially not after she had her son, Carson. But suddenly, someone grabs her in broad daylight and does all this to her? Tell me, Marianne, who else could have a motive besides you?”
For a moment, I simply stared at him.
Trying to understand how we had ended up here.
Trying to understand how the same man who once crossed continents looking for me could stand in front of me now and look at me like a criminal.
"Darius..." A quiet laugh escaped me. "You really believe I did this? After everything that's happened between us, that's honestly what you think of me?"
"Don't fucking play games with me! I know you're angry our daughter died during surgery! And I know how much you hate Verona. Stop pretending otherwise."
My eyes burned.
Before I could stop myself, my hand flew across his face.
SLAP!
The crack echoed through the bedroom.
For several seconds, neither of us moved.
My palm stung from the impact, and the pain traveled all the way up my arm. I slowly curled my fingers into a fist and forced myself to breathe through the tightness in my chest before finally finding my voice.
"Darius, do you have any idea how shameless you're being right now? You can believe whatever story makes you feel better, but this has absolutely nothing to do with me. Not a single part of it."
A bitter laugh escaped me as I wiped at my eyes.
The moment the words left my mouth, I crouched down and began gathering my daughter's belongings from the floor.
A pink hair clip.
A stuffed rabbit.
A tiny sweater she would never wear again.
The sight nearly shattered me.
I didn't want to stay in the same room as him anymore. I didn't want to look at him, and I certainly didn't want to hear another accusation.
Before I could stand, his hand clamped around my wrist.
Pain shot through my injured arm instantly.
"Fine," Darius said through clenched teeth. "Let's forget feelings for a second and talk about facts. You got discharged from the hospital today, so explain something to me. Why didn't you come straight home?"
I frowned.
"What are you talking about? I went exactly where I needed to go."
His expression darkened.
"Then why were you at an apartment complex in Brooklyn? You've never been there before, Marianne. Never. Yet somehow you show up there on the same day Verona gets taken."
For a moment, I didn't understand.
Then it clicked.
The lawyer's office.
He was talking about the lawyer's office.
Unfortunately, my silence only convinced him further.
"Verona was unconscious when they brought her in," Darius continued, his voice rough with anger. "Do you know what she kept saying? Even after everything she'd been through, she was still begging you to let her go."
He stepped closer.
"Marianne, you know what kind of life she came from. Even if you hate her, how could you do something like this? How could you be this cruel? You're a mother too. Verona has a son. What would her son think of you for hurting her?"
For a second, I couldn't speak.
My daughter was dead.
Dead.
Yet somehow everyone kept asking me to think about Verona's child.
Nobody seemed to remember that I had just buried my own.
I almost laughed.
"Darius, listen to yourself. Just listen to what you're saying right now."
He either couldn't hear it or refused to.
His fingers dug deeper into my wrist.
"You owe her an apology. You owe her an explanation for what happened."
Something inside me cracked completely.
I yanked against his grip.
"Darius, I didn't do it. I didn't touch her, I didn't hire anybody, and I didn't even know where she was. Did it ever occur to you that somebody else could be responsible?" The words came out before I could stop them. "Did it ever occur to you that she might have arranged this herself?"
"Fuck, Marianne! Do you hear yourself right now? You're actually suggesting she'd destroy herself for attention? You're seriously standing here trying to convince me that's what happened?"
Darius dragged a hand through his hair and looked away before turning back to me.
"When did you become this person? When did you get so bitter that you'd say something like that about another woman?"
I stared at him in disbelief.
"You grew up with nothing, Marianne. You know what it's like to be looked down on. You know what it's like to be powerless and have people judge you without giving you a chance."
His voice rose with every sentence.
"And now you've spent five years living as Mrs. Davenport and somehow you've forgotten all of that. You've forgotten exactly what it feels like to be the person nobody believes."
I felt something cold settle in my chest.
"Forgotten what?"
"Forgotten where you came from. You're still just a fucking orphan, Marianne."
The room went silent.
For a second, I couldn't breathe.
Darius looked away first, as if part of him already regretted saying it.
But the damage was done.
"Maybe my mom was right," he said quietly. "Maybe you really are cursed. Maybe everyone around you gets hurt eventually, including our daughter Lara."
The world seemed to tilt beneath my feet.
Those words followed me throughout my entire childhood.
After my parents died, relatives abandoned me. I spent years believing I destroyed everything I touched.
The night I almost gave up on my life, it was Darius who found me.
I still remembered him sitting beside me in the rain.
I still remembered him wiping away my tears.
I still remembered his voice.
"People die because life is unfair, Marianne. Not because you're cursed."
Back then, he had saved me.
Now he was the one pushing me back into that darkness.
Tears streamed down my face.
This time I couldn't stop them.
I looked at him and saw a stranger wearing the face of the man I used to love.
"So that's who I am to you now."
My voice trembled.
"A jealous woman who would ruin someone's life for revenge. A vicious woman capable of anything as long as she's angry enough."
Darius opened his mouth.
I didn't let him speak.
"No. I won't apologize for something I didn't do. Whether Verona lives or dies has nothing to do with me."
My throat tightened painfully.
"And from today forward..."
My voice broke despite my efforts.
"...the same goes for you."
For the first time since entering the room, Darius looked genuinely stunned.
I used all my strength to rip my wrist from his grasp.
Then I wiped the tears from my face, picked up my bag, and walked toward the front door.
I grabbed the handle.
"Since you're so damn stubborn, Marianne, don't blame me for what happens next."
The moment I tried to leave, Darius's men stopped me.
I barely made it through the side exit before two bodyguards caught up to me.
One grabbed each arm and dragged me back despite my struggles.
"Darius, let me go!" I shouted. "Stop this before it goes too far."
Neither bodyguard responded.
They pulled me through the private floors of La Serpienten's headquarters and into one of the underground meeting rooms.
I had only heard stories about this place before.
It was where major deals were negotiated, punishments were decided, and people disappeared without anyone daring to ask questions afterward.
The room was crowded with capos, enforcers, business partners, and other men who held power simply because everyone else feared them.
Conversations died the moment I was dragged inside.
My eyes immediately searched the room for Darius.
I found him sitting at the head of the table.
Verona sat beside him with one hand resting comfortably on his arm, as if that position belonged to her.
The sight made my stomach turn.
My daughter's funeral flowers had not even wilted yet.
Yet here they were.
Looking more like a family than Darius and I had in months.
"Darius, please listen to me," I said, trying to pull free from the guards. "You know me better than anyone. You know I wouldn't do something like this."
For a moment, I thought he might actually look at me.
Instead, he lit a cigarette and leaned back in his chair.
"This woman still refuses to admit what she did," Darius said calmly as he looked around the room. "I've given her multiple opportunities to tell the truth, but she insists on pretending she's innocent."
Several men exchanged looks.
A few laughed quietly.
Verona lowered her gaze.
"Darius, maybe we should let it go," she said softly. "I'm worried this will only make Marianne hate me more. To be honest, I'm already scared enough as it is."
The reaction was immediate.
One man snorted.
Another shook his head.
"Scared of her? Boss has protected her for years."
"She's had a better life than most people in this city."
"She doesn't know how lucky she is."
Laughter spread through the room.
