Chapter 5 - THE TICKET TO NOWHERE
Serena stared at the small brass key on the table.
The color vanished from her cheeks, leaving her looking completely hollow.
“A ticket?” Diane asked quietly, stepping closer to me.
Vincent didn't look at Diane. He kept his eyes locked on Serena.
“A one-way ticket to Montreal,” Vincent said. “Dated the exact same night Elena supposedly died of a sudden illness.”
The silence in the room was absolute.
I gripped Lily’s hand tighter.
“Elena didn't die in this house, did she, Serena?” Vincent asked.
Serena shook her head frantically. “She got sick. You were in Chicago on business. The doctors said it was an aneurysm—”
“I read the medical report you handed me four years ago,” Vincent interrupted. “But yesterday, I found the real one in the safe.”
He stepped closer to her.
“Elena didn't have an aneurysm. She was poisoned.”
Diane gasped.
My heart hammered against my ribs.
“She knew you and Robert were blackmailing her over the accident,” Vincent continued, his voice terrifyingly calm. “She packed a bag. She bought a ticket. She was going to run.”
He pointed at Serena.
“But you couldn't let her leave. If she left, the money stopped. So you made sure she never made it to the train station.”
“No!” Serena screamed, backing away. “I didn't kill her! Robert did!”
The confession echoed off the high ceilings.
Diane slumped into a chair, completely overcome. “Robert... murdered someone?”
“He put it in her tea!” Serena cried, pointing a shaking finger at Diane. “Your precious husband! He said if she ran, we’d lose everything! I just watched the door! I didn't make her drink it!”
I felt sick.
They hadn't just covered up my daughter's death. They had murdered the only person who felt guilty enough to run.
Vincent’s face was made of stone.
“I know Robert did it,” Vincent said softly.
Serena blinked, confused. “What?”
“I know Robert poisoned her.”
Vincent reached into his pocket again and pulled out his cell phone.
He placed it on the table and tapped the screen.
The screen lit up with a paused security camera feed.
“Because Robert told me everything an hour ago.”
Serena froze.
“What are you talking about? Robert is in Florida.”
“Robert is in my basement,” Vincent corrected.
Diane stood up, trembling. “Mr. Russo... what have you done?”
“I didn't hurt him, Mrs. Mitchell,” Vincent said, looking at Diane with genuine respect. “I simply invited him to a private meeting before dinner. I showed him the forged wire transfer. And I asked him why he was trying to steal five million dollars from me.”
Vincent looked back at Serena.
“He confessed to the forgery. He confessed to the blackmail. And when I showed him the real medical report... he confessed to the murder.”
Serena began to hyperventilate.
“He told me it was your idea,” Vincent lied effortlessly, watching her break. “He said you mixed the tea.”
“He’s lying!” Serena shrieked. “He bought the poison! He kept it in the pocket of his gray wool coat!”
Vincent smiled. It was a cold, terrifying smile.
“Thank you, Serena.”
He tapped his phone.
“The police are on their way. They've been listening to this entire conversation.”
Serena stared at the phone in absolute horror.
She lunged for the doorway, desperate to escape.
But before she could reach the hall, the heavy oak doors opened.
Standing there were two uniformed police officers.
And standing between them, in handcuffs, was Robert.
He looked older, exhausted, and completely defeated.
Diane stared at the man she had loved for twenty-nine years.
“Robert,” she whispered.
He couldn't look at her.
The officers grabbed Serena’s arms, snapping cuffs onto her wrists. She kicked and screamed, ruining her expensive silk gown, but they dragged her out without hesitation.
Robert lingered for a moment.
He looked at Diane, his eyes filled with a pathetic, cowardly regret.
“I'm sorry, Di,” he mumbled.
Diane stood tall. She didn't cry.
“You aren't sorry, Robert. You're just caught.”
She turned her back on him.
The officers led Robert away, the heavy doors clicking shut behind them.
The mansion was finally quiet.
I stood there, still holding Lily’s hand, the tears drying on my face.
My daughter’s killers were going to prison. It wouldn't bring Maya back, but the suffocating weight I had carried for three years suddenly felt a fraction lighter.
Vincent walked over to the table and picked up the drawing of the red car.
He looked at it for a long time.
Then, he walked over to me.
He knelt down so he was eye-level with me and Lily.
“Caroline,” he said softly.
I swallowed. “Yes, sir?”
He held out the drawing.
“I cannot give you your daughter back. I would give everything I own if I could.”
He looked up into my eyes.
“But I can give you justice.”
He reached into his pocket and pulled out something else.
It was a small, delicate gold necklace.
It had a little angel pendant attached to it.
“When Elena died,” Vincent whispered, “I found this in her jewelry box. I didn't know whose it was.”
My breath caught.
I reached out and took the necklace.
“It was Maya’s,” I cried softly, clutching it to my chest.
Vincent nodded. “Elena kept it. She wanted to confess. She didn't want to hurt you.”
He stood up, looking at me with a profound, quiet strength.
“You are no longer a maid in this house, Caroline.”
I looked up, confused.
Before he could explain, Diane walked over.
She placed a gentle hand on my shoulder.
But as she did, she looked down at the floor, near the leg of the table.
“Mr. Russo,” Diane said, her voice shaking again.
Vincent turned.
“What is it?”
Diane knelt down and picked up something Serena had dropped when she lunged for the door.
It wasn't makeup. It wasn't a key.
It was an old, faded photograph.
Diane turned it over, and all the color left her face.
“This fell out of Serena’s clutch,” Diane whispered.
She handed it to Vincent.
Vincent looked at it, his brow furrowing.
He turned it around so I could see.
It was a picture of my deceased ex-husband.
May you like
But he wasn't alone.
He was standing with his arm around Serena, holding a newborn baby.
