Luke’s POVWhat I did to Roy wasn’t personal. It was business. Simple mathematics to make my claim believable to Emmanuella. Everything I did was calculated—not a step wasted, not a thread left dangling.To make the discovery inevitable yet misleading, I made sure to leave a trail of footprints leading to the river. A carefully choreographed false direction—one that couldn’t be traced back to me. The main objective was simple: the body had to be found. And soon.Under the dim light of my car’s cabin, I pulled out a new burner phone. This one was fresh, purchased solely for this operation. Logging into a newly created blog with fake details, I typed out an article with clinical detachment. The headline was sensational, the tone inflammatory. I linked Roy’s death to Emmanuella, weaving a narrative of betrayal and rage. According to my fabricated story, she was the jealous lover who had struck back after a heated argument the night before.Moments after publishing, the article started gai
Luke’s POVI arrived at her address and stepped out of my car, the soft click of the door echoing in the quiet suburban neighborhood. The air was still, almost suffocating in its silence. Not a single car drove by, and only the occasional rustle of leaves broke the monotony. Perfect. No witnesses, no distractions. I adjusted my coat, slipping my fake badge into my hand, and walked up to her door.I knocked, my knuckles rapping sharply against the wood.It took a moment, but the door swung open, revealing her. Her eyes, framed by dark lashes, locked onto me with a mix of annoyance and curiosity.“How can I help you?” she asked, her tone curt.“Detective Moscow,” I said, flashing the fake badge that did not even carry my name. But I know she didn't pay attention to it. “I have some questions about Roy’s murder.”Her lips pressed into a thin line. Then she rolled her eyes. “Look, Detective, I know Roy is dead, but I didn’t kill him.” Her voice was sharp, indifferent, as though she were d
Luke's POV“It’s me, Diana!” an old woman’s voice shouted from the other side of the door. From the tone and familiarity, I guessed it was the neighbor.I glanced back at the mess I was desperately trying to clean. If I opened the door, she’d see everything. No, I couldn't afford that to happen. “She’s not home! Come back later!” I shouted back, keeping my tone sharp.“No!” she shot back with determination.“I can just wait for her in the living room, can’t I? It’s not the first time I’ve waited for her,” she added confidently.Some people truly had a death wish. Don't they?With no other choice, I opened the door, forcing a fake smile onto my face while blocking the entrance with my body.The moment she noticed my stance, she took a cautious step back.“Who are you?” She asked, her wrinkled face twisting into a scowl as though she despised me at first sight.“You’re not Roy, not Matthew, not Anthony, and definitely not Zack. Who the hell are you? A new boyfriend?” Her tone was sharp
Emmanuella’s POVI gasped, letting out a sharp cry. My phone nearly slipped from my hand as I turned over on the bed. My heart raced. I couldn’t believe what I was reading.For hours, I’d been lying there, clinging to my phone and sighing every few minutes, waiting for a call from Attorney John—or at least, the man I assumed could help me. But now, reading this damning article, my mind spiraled into chaos.I scanned the words again, each one slicing through my composure."Am I the prime suspect because Cassandra is also dead?" I whispered to myself, my voice trembling.The article was gaining traction quickly. Hundreds of shares, thousands of comments. It wouldn’t be long before the police came knocking. My body froze as I imagined the interrogation, the accusations, the humiliation.I jumped out of bed. Gabriel was downstairs. Maybe he could help me. He was the man of the house, after all, and he should know what to do.I reached the door but hesitated, my hand hovering over the knob
Rebecca's POVI stepped down from my limousine gently. I was on my way to a business meeting for a new initiative where we would now be selling automobiles—a different niche of business than I was used to.This was very challenging. But despite all the challenges, I couldn’t help but hear the rumors spreading around.“The wife of CEO Gabriel Moretti is accused of the murder of two people.”At first, I felt empathy for him. I mean, yes, I was one of those seeking absolute revenge on him so that he might learn his lesson, but now his wife has found herself in the midst of a murder accusation.That was pitiful. So, I decided to release my grip on revenge for the moment and just mind my own business. Making this new business flourish, just like my other businesses, was all I aimed for right now.“You fucking monster, you killed two people,” my Instagram account was bombarded.There were people who still thought I was the wife of Gabriel Moretti. And as such, I wondered if they even had a
Rebecca’s POVI smiled back at him. I knew I hadn’t committed the crime. No matter how many blue documents he placed on his table, even if they had a picture of me holding a knife and slicing a throat, I’d know the evidence had been altered, and I was ready to sue.“You’re smiling?” the detective asked, clearly shocked to see that even in this situation, I was smiling at him.“I’ll give you one last chance to confess,” he said, his voice firm and threatening. “Or else, I promise you, you’ll rot in jail for the rest of your life.”“I didn’t do anything wrong,” I replied confidently.The detective scoffed, shaking his head. “You don’t understand the gravity of the situation you’re in, do you? We have a case built against you. A very strong one.”I leaned back in my chair, my arms crossed. “You can keep trying to spin your web of lies, but it’s not going to work. I’m innocent.”Just then, he opened one of the documents on the desk and turned it toward me, pushing it closer.Inside the fo
Luke’s POVI smirked inwardly as I watched Emmanuella sit at the table at the coffee shop. Her eyes were swollen. I could easily see that she did not sleep all night long.“Do you know him?” she asked me all of a sudden, leaning her head forward like she was trying to keep a secret.“Know who?” I asked, pretending to be confused. I didn’t know whom she was referring to.Of course, when she stepped down their stairs earlier, she looked like someone who was surprised to see me and Gabriel whispering. But if only she knew. Scoff!“I saw you two talking. Is there something I should know that I don’t?” she asked me again.I smiled at her boldly now. Aside from the fact that I know how to take people out of the way—if you know what I mean—lying was also another area of my specialty.“Well, he was asking me if I was the attorney and was trying to get you out of this mess,” I said to her.“And what did you say?” she asked me with a brisk voice like she was desperate to hear what I was going t
Luke’s POVI smirked inwardly as I watched Emmanuella. She had just called her husband a useless bastard and confirmed that if I was serious, she’d leave him for me in a heartbeat.“Excuse me,” I said to her, rising from my seat. Without another word, I walked out of the coffee shop.Standing near the corner of the shop’s exterior, I positioned myself strategically. The tall glass wall of the coffee shop would make it easy for her to see me without hearing anything from the outside. I wanted to make sure she knew I hadn’t left just yet.I covered my mouth with my palm and dialed Gabriel’s number. The thick glass wall between us ensured she couldn’t hear me, but I wasn’t taking any chances.“Hey, Gabriel!” I said as soon as he picked up.“I swear to God, Luke, if you—” he began, immediately threatening me. He didn’t like how I’d handled the situation with the bodies. I did kill people whom he had not sent me to kill. But he should’ve known by now: I was clearing the path for us.“Don’t
Gabriel POV“You owe me double now!” Luke leaned at me the instant Gomelo walked away and had his seat. His voice was firm. And his face showed that he was not joking around.He turned from me and went to sit at the table he was before. Just then, the bell rang and the system voice blared.“To the bath hall now!”As the voice blared, I hadn’t even eaten any spoon of the food served when the jailers moved into the mess hall and snatched our plates from us.I looked around, it seemed I was the only one who didn’t have the time to eat.“Looks like you would starve the entire day, Pumpkin!” Gomelo snarled as one of the jailers snatched my plate from my table. And I immediately got up on my feet.“Move it!” the jailer ordered, and I simply obeyed.As I walked on to join the queue, Gomelo smirked boldly, and his crew were also in the same way.While we walked out of the mess hall, each one of us went directly to the bath hall. Though I didn’t know which way it was, I followed right behind t
Gabriel’s POVAfter we filed in from the queue, the door leading into the yard was locked, and we were all in the prison building.Not knowing where the mess hall was or what the mess hall was all about, I knew I must be there just as the system blared—or else? I didn’t want any problem for myself.I followed behind some prisoners who seemed not to have my time towards something that looked like a large room.All prisoners were going inside the room. They were all grabbing their seats. Each of them with their crew sat together.Stepping through the door to this large room, I saw that the mess hall was indeed a dining hall. It was a place all prisoners must gather in large numbers to eat.Hence, there were many wooden tables and benches in this room. One table had two benches by its sides, and each table was filled with prisoners, except one table at the last edge, which had no one sitting on it.I lowered my head, my heart racing from what Gomelo told me earlier. I knew since I steppe
Rebecca’s POVEver since Gabriel had been arrested, I felt better within myself. Mandena was no place for a criminal. Such a criminal who had the mind to hire to kill not one person but persons just so that he wanted them gone?I was pleased to watch the news, to watch as he was being moved to prison in the large bus down the isolated road and forever be gone being punished for his crime.It was at this moment, I knew my revenge was over. Now I needed to move on with my life.I was married to Gabriel, he divorced me and attempted to kill me. I lost my mother, I vouched for revenge. And now that he has been moved away? It was time to give love a second chance.So many others would say I was a damaged woman. A woman who had gone through mindset pollution. A woman who could, because of a revenge against her ex-husband, create business entities to strike him. Such a woman might be avoided by men.But what if I made them understand it was not all what it seemed? And that I was a good perso
Gabriel’s POVWithout much delay, I was moved to a solitary cell. This cell was far from the one they had taken me to earlier. It was isolated in its own corridor and so small that if I stretched my arms while standing at the center, my fingers would touch both walls.The heat inside was unbearable, as if I was boiling my own skin just by being here. But, of course, it was still better than getting raped.I sank my head onto my knees in the corner of the cell. There was a bed, but I couldn't bring myself to sleep on it.I had seen bedbugs crawling on the mattress. And from what I knew about those tiny bloodsuckers, they were like vampires—feeding on me until morning. Sleeping curled up in a corner was the better option.The Next Morning“Hey! Seen the motherfucker who got saved last night?!”A muscular prisoner taunted me, poking at me the moment we stepped into the yard.I didn’t know what this yard was for, but the moment the bell rang, the cell doors automatically unlocked. Then, a
Gabriel’s POVThe prisoner fell to the floor, helplessly nursing his wounds. Yet, no one cared.I saw their eyes widen. All they cared about was staring at me—getting a closer look at me.To this effect, the muscular one began to unbutton his jumpsuit while licking his lips and chuckling wickedly.The rest behind him were the same. “Come!” each of them murmured, their voices low like mocking whispers.“Let the president taste you first, then you can go around for the rest of us.”Just then, I saw the muscular one pull out his penis. It was already hard, veins protruding from the top.My heart pounded. It felt like the floor should open up and swallow me whole. My breathing quickened as I took backward steps until my back hit the metal door of the cell.“You can’t run, pussy. Get over here. It’s been a while since we’ve had anyone to fuck,” the muscular one said. Then, suddenly, he grabbed me and shoved me against the wall.“Yes!” The other prisoners in the cell began cheering him on l
Gabriel’s POVIt was as if the Judge already had a private meeting with the police or with Rebecca herself. He didn’t even allow my attorney to say much before he canceled everything he said and was to say.“Gabriel Moretti, you are sentenced to life imprisonment with hard labor!” he declared, and immediately, the police grabbed me and tossed me into the prison van.The prison was a long journey away from Mandena. I didn’t know where we were, but I knew we passed through the desert somewhat, passed through many deserted roads and many valleys and hills.The prison was so far away that any prisoner who tried to escape, either by luck or by strategy, would not be able to make it alive back into the city. It was from this instance, I knew I was dead.Arriving at the prison, “Move it, everybody!” the jailer who sat in the van with us shouted at the top of his voice.He held a bludgeon stick in his hand. It was made of metal such that when he hit it on any erring prisoner, such a prisoner
Gabriel’s POVI saw the signboard “Goodbye Mandena” up above. And I just smirked like a victorious soldier who had conquered wars and was returning home.Seeing the above signboard, I knew that I had already escaped being arrested in Mandena.Mandena was a city in the large country of Manderin. But after Mandena was another country because Mandena was at the end of Manderin and we were bordered by the country of Philadelphia.Philadelphia was a country whereby people running from the government in Mandena could escape because of their lawlessness and, at the same time, rigid constitution to external pressure.They believed any government interference from an outside country was already encroaching on their national security, and as for this, they always failed to cooperate unless, of course, the external country wanted war.This was why Manderin and Philadelphia did not always see eye to eye, even as we were neighboring countries to one another.Seeing Philadelphia just a little mile
Luke’s POVOne thing about me was that I never miscalculated. After the nonsense Rebecca spewed, of which she thought she said something that made sense, I studied her securities and saw that each of them was carried away looking at another angle, careful not to let any unwanted encroachment near the restaurant.And so with this, I knew that if I pulled my trigger at this instance, I could get my aim done and then fight my way out of this restaurant. At least, I was not using my real face; I was wearing a realistic mask, and I could get away pretty easily.“You don’t want to do that. Trust me!” Rebecca said to me with a firm and confident voice.Was she insane?When a gun was pointed even at the bravest person on earth, such a person should blink a type of fear because their life was in the hands of the person pointing the gun at them.But for Rebecca?How was she able to stay confident in the face of death?“I will fucking blow your head off,” I said, pushing the gun closer to her hea
Gabriel’s POVMy hand trembled as I saw that the internet was all about me right now. They talked about how I have hired a criminal to do some operations for me and all of that.My heart raced. “Who was the reporter who posted this news?” I scanned each of the words in the article of the news, but I didn’t see any reporter's name.This was a perfect job to implicate me, and I swear it was working because even the television news seemed to be majoring on my matter right now.Even on the radio news, each channel was screaming my name,“Gabriel Moretti!”“I need to get out of this city,” I muttered briskly to myself as I paced around the house.Instantly, I caught my car keys and dashed out of the house.To everything I own, it was not important. I was back to square one, and even this moment was worse than square one because each person knew who I was.It got worse when another piece of evidence got to the internet.I saw this on the billboard as I was driving very fast away from Manden