Chapter 9 - THE WEDDING THAT BECAME A NIGHTMARE
The gunshot echoed through the darkened estate.
Isabella instinctively ducked.
Matteo moved in front of her.
"Stay behind me."
Emergency lights flickered along the hallway.
Guests screamed below.
Glass shattered.
Footsteps thundered across the marble floors.
Matteo contacted his security team.
"Report."
Static answered.
Then a frightened voice.
"Sir, the ballroom exits have been locked."
Matteo's expression darkened.
"By whom?"
"We don't know."
Sophia grabbed his sleeve.
"Nicholas said he was going to protect his father."
Matteo looked at her.
"Where is he?"
"He went toward the security control room."
Gabriel immediately contacted the estate's emergency services coordinator.
"Police are already responding," he said.
Matteo turned toward Isabella.
"Find a safe room and stay there."
She shook her head.
"Not without you."
"Isabella—"
"I'm not leaving you alone."
For one brief moment, their eyes met.
Then another gunshot rang out.
A security guard stumbled into the hallway.
He was bleeding from his shoulder.
Matteo helped him sit against the wall.
"What happened?"
"One of Vale's men tried to stop us from opening the exits."
The guard grimaced.
"They're looking for Miss Bennett."
Isabella felt her blood turn cold.
"Me?"
He nodded.
"Orders came through the radio."
Matteo's jaw tightened.
"She's with me."
The guard looked terrified.
"Sir, they said if they couldn't find her, they were supposed to take the necklace."
Isabella touched her throat.
The gold pendant.
Her father's secret.
The evidence.
Matteo finally understood.
"They know what she has."
Sophia looked toward the staircase.
"We have to get everyone out."
Working with the venue's remaining staff, they directed frightened guests toward emergency exits that security officers managed to unlock.
The police arrived moments later.
As officers secured the ballroom, Matteo led Isabella and Sophia into a protected corridor.
Then a voice came over the estate's speaker system.
"Matteo Rossi."
Everyone froze.
Nicholas Vale.
The groom.
His voice sounded strained.
"My father says you have something that belongs to him."
Matteo looked up.
"Let the guests leave, Nicholas."
A pause.
"They're not involved."
Nicholas laughed nervously.
"Nobody's innocent in this family."
Sophia closed her eyes.
"Nicholas, please."
Silence.
Then Nicholas spoke again.
"Sophia, I know why you married me."
Her face crumpled.
"Then you know I never wanted anyone hurt."
His voice broke.
"I loved you."
Sophia began crying.
Before she could answer, a second voice came through the speakers.
Richard Vale.
"Enough."
Matteo's expression hardened.
Richard continued.
"Bring Isabella Bennett to the main study."
A pause.
"Or the two men she's been searching for will never leave their medical facility alive."
Matteo stared at Isabella.
May you like
Then Richard added one final sentence.
"And tell her that her father has been protecting a secret even Lorenzo Rossi doesn't know."
Related Stories
