The Godfather’s Forsaken Rose Chapter 26
Late autumn came, and sycamore leaves covered the ground in gold.
Wrapped in a soft cashmere shawl, I sat beside a sunlit floor-to-ceiling window, reading the newest film script delivered to me.
Adrian sat cross-legged on the carpet with his laptop, handling business. Every now and then, he looked up at me with gentle eyes.
The quiet warmth of the room was broken by a news alert on the tablet.
Breaking News: Victor Moretti, head of the Moretti family, has been officially arrested by federal agents on suspicion of misappropriating family funds, money laundering, and tax evasion.
Moretti account books exposed. Underground empire collapses.
Inside report: mysterious capital force suspected of precision strike behind Moretti downfall.
The bold headlines were startling.
My finger paused on the screen.
The photo showed Victor surrounded by reporters. The proud face he once wore was now full of panic and humiliation. Bright handcuffs locked around his wrists.
My face showed no emotion, as if I were looking at a stranger who had nothing to do with me.
Adrian set aside his laptop, came to me, and naturally put an arm around my shoulders.
“Are you okay?”
I shook my head and smiled faintly.
“What could happen to me?”
My calm was almost frightening.
Over the next few days, news about the Moretti family continued to spread.
Elena tried to flee the country with the last of the transferred assets, but federal agents were waiting at the airport and arrested her on the spot.
Sophia collapsed completely under the combined blows of losing Victor’s protection, the family’s downfall, and her mother’s arrest.
She tried to find Dominic, imagining he would help her for old times’ sake, but his deputy stopped her coldly outside the Morello family headquarters. She did not even get to see him.
The man she once considered her greatest support delivered the final blow.
Soon, gossip tabloids reported that Sophia had suffered a breakdown and been sent to a private care facility outside the city.
In the paparazzi photos, she wore a hospital gown, her eyes dull and empty. She looked nothing like the gentle, delicate woman she used to pretend to be.
Good and evil have their reckoning.
I closed the news page and walked to the window.
The setting sun dyed the sky a magnificent orange-red, warm and peaceful.
Adrian came up behind me and wrapped his arms around me. His chin rested gently against the top of my head.
“It’s over, Bella.”
I leaned into his warmth and gave a soft sound of agreement.
Yes.
It was over.
All that tangled hatred, all that resentment and unwillingness, finally faded with the collapse of the Moretti family and Sophia’s end.
My heart was peaceful, like a sky washed clean by autumn water.
At last, I truly said goodbye to the past full of betrayal and hurt.
The annual International Film Festival Awards became the focus of the world.
On the red carpet, stars glittered under the flash of cameras.
I wore a custom gown made from antique lace in the Castellano family collection, the skirt trailing behind me with swanlike elegance. My hand rested lightly on Adrian’s arm as we walked the carpet together.
Three years had refined me.
Some of the arrogance of youth had softened into the composure of a grown woman. Every glance and smile drew the cameras in.
Adrian wore a classic black tuxedo. Handsome, dignified, and openly proud, he looked at me with love he did not bother to hide.
We were the most watched couple of the night.
And I was one of the strongest contenders for Best Actress.
In New York, on the top floor of the Morello family headquarters, Dominic sat alone in the dark before the enormous windows.
Only the glow of the television lit his thin, haggard profile.
The film festival broadcast played on the screen.
When the camera cut to a close-up of Adrian and me, Dominic’s pupils tightened. His heart seemed to be gripped by an invisible hand, squeezing out a suffocating pain.
He watched my confident smile on the red carpet.
Watched the easy intimacy between me and Adrian.
Watched the camera catch the overflowing tenderness in Adrian’s eyes whenever he looked at me.
Pain, unwillingness, and a faint pride he despised in himself twisted together until they nearly tore him apart.
He suffered because the man beside me was not him.
He was proud because I was so dazzling, and once, he had had me.
And he could not accept that, in the end, he was the one who lost me.