Chapter 10 – THE FINAL REVERSAL

My heart stopped.

I looked at the phone screen. Isla was completely oblivious, humming silently to herself as she turned the page of her book, while the assassin stood mere feet behind her.

Matteo looked like he was being torn apart from the inside.

He looked at me. His eyes were begging.

Give it to him.

I stepped forward, my hands shaking violently.

I held the gold pocket watch out toward Elias.

Elias smiled, his eyes gleaming with victory. “Good girl. I always knew Daniel picked a smart maid.”

He reached out to take the watch.

But as his fingers brushed the gold casing, I didn’t let go.

Instead, I looked Elias directly in the eye, and I did something he never expected.

I smiled back.

“You’re right, Elias,” I whispered. “I am smart.”

I squeezed the watch tightly, and with my thumb, I pressed the small winding crown at the top of the timepiece.

A loud, piercing BEEP echoed from the watch.

Elias frowned, pulling his hand back. “What did you do?”

Suddenly, the live video feed on Elias’s phone scrambled into static.

Elias tapped the screen frantically. “What is this? What did you do to the feed?!”

I took a step back, holding the watch up.

“My father was a private investigator in 2001,” I said, my voice steadying. “But he spent the last twenty-five years running a security tech firm from the shadows. Did you really think he left a broken analog watch in an envelope for two decades?”

Elias’s face went pale.

The door to the hospital room suddenly slammed open.

But it wasn’t Elias’s backup.

It was Nico Bellandi, his arm in a sling, holding a massive silver handgun leveled directly at Elias’s head.

Behind Nico were six heavily armed FBI agents.

“Drop the cane, Uncle,” Nico snarled.

Elias’s two bodyguards instantly raised their hands, surrendering to the federal agents.

Elias stood frozen, staring at me. “How…?”

“The watch is a distress beacon,” I said, my heart soaring with adrenaline. “My mother told me what it was before you walked in. When I pressed the crown, it sent a signal directly to the FBI task force investigating Daniel’s ledger, jamming all local cell signals in the process.”

Matteo let out a massive breath, realizing the assassin at the house had lost his feed and his orders.

“Your man at the mansion is already in custody,” an FBI agent said, stepping forward to cuff Elias. “We had eyes on the house the moment Mr. Bellandi handed over the ledger this afternoon.”

Elias Bellandi didn’t fight.

He simply stared at Matteo as the cold steel handcuffs clicked around his wrists.

“You’re destroying our legacy, Matteo,” Elias spat as they dragged him out the door.

Matteo stood tall, adjusting his cuffs.

“No,” Matteo said softly. “I’m finally cleaning it.”

When the room was clear, Matteo turned to me.

He didn’t say a word. He just pulled me into a fierce, bone-crushing hug.

I hugged him back, tears of absolute relief soaking his shirt.

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