Paolo shifted uncomfortably, glancing toward the door before speaking cautiously.
“Aren’t you worried Vincenzo will question the heart failure?” he asked.
“Four weeks ago, we told him you had only hours left—and that Elena’s heart was the only one that could save you. That’s why he tried to take it. Now... you’ve lived these four weeks, and we’ve warned him again that your time is running out.”
He hesitated.
“If you keep surviving... won’t he question it?”
My blood ran cold.
Violet didn’t look the least bit afraid.
She exhaled slowly.
Then leaned back slightly, her lips curling into something that wasn’t a smile.
It was crueler.
“Let him question it,” she said. ““He’ll never discover I don’t have a single heart problem—every doctor in Lombardy works for my family. And Vincenzo trusts them completely.”
My fingers tightened around my phone.
Because now—
I understood.
Violet wasn’t sick. She had never been dying.
She had faked a fatal illness, using guilt to bend Vincenzo to her will.
Just like that—everything clicked into place.
My chest tightened.
Nausea rose in my throat.
I pulled my phone out with shaking hands, quickly swiping to the camera, pressing record before I could second-guess myself.
I angled it carefully through the gap in the curtain.
I needed proof. Something undeniable.
But before I could capture more than a few seconds of her furious face—
A hand clamped down on my shoulder.
Hard.
I jolted violently, nearly dropping my phone as a sharp breath tore from my throat.
Chapter 24
ELENA
Renzo.
“What the hell!” I hissed, spinning on my heel.
