Page 152 of The Strength Of A Woman

This is one of her dirty tricks.

“Callum is dead. And Giorgio is on his way to the hospital. We don’t know whether he’ll make it or not. I just wanted to tell you about them before I go to the hospital to be with your grandfather.”

I bite my lip to stop my voice from flowing from my throat.

No matter how much of a snake she is, and she could say anything to me to make me open the damn door, this is about Callum.

What if something happened to him?

What if some of what she just said is true?

Still, I know she’s here because of me.

She wants to regain control of me.

She doesn’t care about me or me being broken if anything bad has happened to Callum.

So, I stay frozen, not moving an inch, waiting for her to leave and then maybe, open the door, go change into one of the dresses in the storage room, and sneak out.

A car is waiting for me not far from the church.

It comes with a driver and a bag of cash.

I just need to change my appearance first, so I don’t get picked up by anyone in Varela’s group or my family.

That’s plan B.

The plan I didn’t even want to think about.

I haven’t heard her footsteps move away, and I start to doubt that she is still behind the door.

It’s like she’s waiting for something.

Or someone.

Terrified, I move away from the door, trying to be as quiet as I can, before, a moment later, a deafening noise tears into the room as she shoots the lock open and puts a big hole into the door.

“You stupid girl,” she says, barging in, gun in hand. “You couldn’t keep yourself in check, you little slut,” she barks, hitting my face with the hand holding her gun.

The pain shoots through my brain as I jolt back, stepping over my skirt and falling over, while bringing my hand to my face, where she just hit me.

“You had to ruin it for all of us,” she screams out of her mind, her usually brushed-back hair now looking like a rat’s nest, her eyes spewing vitriol.

“You wanted him to be your king, and he’s a dead king now. How’s that for a stupid girl like you? He killed your mother, and then you got in bed with him and helped him destroy our family.”

She raises her hand again to slap me when firm steps ring outside, and a voice thunders from the doorway.

“Get out, Sylvia. Now. It’s over,” Callum barks, his gun pointing at the floor.

He shoves her to the side, moves past her, and helps me up before he looks at her.

“Stefano Varela’s men killed Bianca. You and your husband both knew that when he came to you and asked you to hand your granddaughter to him. This has never been about Leilani. He wanted me out and his empire to merge with yours. Sooner or later, you and your husband would’ve ended up dead like Bianca. You should be grateful, not harass your granddaughter, or tell her lies. I saved your life, you stupid fool.”

He turns his back to her and pivots to me to check where she hit me. My bottom lip tastes like blood, and his eyes quickly darken.

“Oh, yeah?” Sylvia pushes out, stepping back toward the door while raising her gun, pointing it at Callum. “What about you having no right to claim Leilani? Just because she said yes to you doesn’t mean she’ll be yours. I’ll kill her before seeing her with you, sneering at your side.”

A frown cuts deep into Callum’s brow when he turns to her, thundering.