“Delete My Number,” She Said—Then Six Men Stepped Aside for the Crime Lord She’d Been Secretly Writing To
Chapter 9
The arrests began that afternoon.
Her uncle confessed.
He had been working for Vale for twelve years.
William Bennett had been forced into the scheme later.
Eleanor had been hidden because she knew where the original ledger was.
But Vale escaped.
For three days, no one knew where he had gone.
Then Clara found a clue.
A letter.
It had been slipped beneath the door.
No signature.
Only four words:
Come to the old chapel.
Matteo immediately refused.
“It is a trap.”
“I know.”
“Then you aren’t going.”
“I am.”
He stared at her.
Clara smiled.
“You taught me something.”
“What?”
“People who are afraid make mistakes.”
Matteo sighed.
“You’ve become dangerous.”
“Only around you.”
He laughed.
That night, they went to the chapel.
Vale was waiting.
He stood beneath the broken bell tower.
“You were always clever, Clara.”
She stared.
“You killed my grandfather.”
Vale shook his head.
“I didn’t.”
“You stole his land.”
“Yes.”
“You ordered the carriage attack.”
“Yes.”
“And you tried to kill my mother.”
“Yes.”
Clara’s voice hardened.
“Why?”
Vale looked at Matteo.
“Because your families were building something together.”
“What?”
“A legal trading house that would have ruined my empire.”
He revealed the final truth.
The Belladonna and Bennett families had once planned to create an honest network of merchants and farmers.
Vale destroyed it before it could begin.
He had spent decades controlling the river.
Then Matteo arrived.
Matteo stepped forward.
“You’re finished.”
Vale laughed.
“Not yet.”
He pulled a small lantern from his coat.
The chapel doors slammed shut.
Flames appeared outside.
Oil had been poured around the building.
Vale had set it on fire.
Clara coughed.
Smoke filled the chapel.
Matteo grabbed her hand.
“Stay with me.”
She squeezed his fingers.
“I am.”
