Chapter 6 - The Woman in the White Dress Finally Told the Truth
Every adviser told Adrian to leave.
Switzerland.
Italy.
South America.
He had passports, aircraft and enough money to disappear before sunrise.
Instead, Adrian walked into the library and found Amelia waiting beside the fireplace.
“You’re staying,” she said.
It was not a question.
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because running makes Croft’s evidence look real.”
“He could have you arrested.”
“He probably will.”
Amelia stared.
“You’re accepting that?”
“No.”
A faint smile touched Adrian’s mouth.
“I’m preparing for it.”
The Rossi organization possessed something Sebastian had underestimated.
Records.
For years, Adrian had insisted legitimate holdings be documented with obsessive precision because he had watched his father’s generation destroy themselves through sloppy accounting.
Those records could prove Sebastian’s shell companies were fraudulent.
But they needed someone beyond Adrian’s influence to verify them.
Amelia suggested the person neither man controlled.
Federal prosecutors.
Marco looked horrified.
“You want us to voluntarily deliver financial records to the government?”
Amelia looked at him.
“You want them to arrive with warrants instead?”
Marco glanced at Adrian.
“She’s becoming irritating.”
Adrian nodded.
“She’s getting healthier.”
Amelia almost smiled.
Within hours, Adrian’s attorneys contacted federal investigators.
He offered access to specific company records in exchange for a formal review of the fabricated documents.
The decision sent shockwaves through both families.
Arthur Harrington called repeatedly.
Adrian ignored him.
Sebastian sent threats.
Amelia deleted them.
Then something unexpected happened.
Penelope called.
Amelia stared at the phone.
“You don’t have to answer,” Adrian said.
“I know.”
That was why she did.
“Hello?”
Penelope was crying.
“Amelia.”
“What happened?”
“Sebastian came here.”
Amelia’s blood went cold.
“Where?”
“Dad’s house.”
“Is he still there?”
“No.”
Penelope’s voice shook.
“He threatened Dad.”
Amelia looked toward Adrian.
“Why?”
“He thinks Dad has copies of the records.”
“Does he?”
Silence.
“Penelope.”
“Yes.”
Everything changed.
Arthur had kept insurance against Sebastian.
Of course he had.
“Where?”
“I don’t know.”
“Ask him.”
“He won’t tell me.”
Adrian gestured for Amelia to put the call on speaker.
Penelope continued.
“He says Sebastian will destroy us if those files come out.”
Amelia closed her eyes.
“You mean destroy the company.”
“And our family.”
“What family, Penelope?”
The line went silent.
Amelia immediately regretted the cruelty.
But Penelope whispered, “You’re right.”
Amelia opened her eyes.
“What?”
“I knew something was wrong with Sebastian.”
Her sister was crying harder now.
“I didn’t know how bad it was.”
“You saw bruises.”
“I thought—”
“You thought what?”
“I thought you would leave if it were really serious.”
Amelia felt as though the floor disappeared beneath her.
“That’s what everyone thinks.”
Penelope said nothing.
“They think a woman being hurt simply walks out one morning. They don’t see the frozen bank account. The threats. The isolation. The apologies. The way you stop trusting your own judgment.”
“I’m sorry.”
Amelia swallowed.
“Sorry doesn’t change what happened.”
“I know.”
For once, Penelope did not defend herself.
That mattered.
“Help us,” Amelia said.
“How?”
“Find Dad’s copies.”
Arthur discovered Penelope searching his office that evening.
Instead of denying everything, he broke.
Years of corruption surfaced in less than thirty minutes.
Sebastian had initially approached Arthur as a financial partner.
Then he began blackmailing him.
Illegal campaign contributions.
Bribed inspectors.
Fraudulent property transfers.
Arthur had participated willingly at first.
By the time he understood Sebastian intended to control the entire Harrington empire, he was too compromised to escape.
He had allowed Amelia to remain with Sebastian because Amelia kept Sebastian emotionally occupied.
When Penelope told her sister that truth, Amelia stopped speaking.
Adrian was beside her.
He saw her face change.
“Amelia?”
She disconnected the call.
Then she walked outside.
Adrian followed but remained several feet behind.
She reached the edge of the garden before stopping.
“He sacrificed me.”
Adrian said nothing.
“He knew.”
Her voice broke.
“He knew exactly what Sebastian was doing, and he let me stay because it made Sebastian easier to manage.”
Adrian felt rage move through him.
Amelia turned.
“I spent years thinking something was wrong with me.”
“There wasn’t.”
“I thought if I were more patient, quieter, less difficult—”
“No.”
She looked at him.
Adrian stepped closer.
“Whatever you did to survive was survival. Sebastian chose what he did.”
Amelia began crying.
This time when Adrian lifted his hand, he waited.
Amelia nodded.
He pulled her gently against him.
No possession.
No demand.
Just a place to stand while everything inside her broke apart.
Her forehead rested against his chest.
“I hate him.”
“I know.”
“I hate Arthur.”
“I know.”
“I hate myself for staying.”
Adrian’s arms tightened slightly.
“That one you need to work on.”
Amelia laughed through her tears.
“You always talk like an order.”
“I’m trying.”
“You’re terrible at comforting people.”
“I’ve been told.”
She stepped backward.
For a moment they looked at each other.
Something warmer existed between them now.
Dangerous in a completely different way.
Adrian touched her cheek.
“May I?”
Amelia knew what he meant.
She surprised herself by smiling.
“Yes.”
He kissed her forehead.
Nothing more.
The restraint meant more than a passionate kiss could have.
That night Penelope delivered Arthur’s copies to federal investigators.
The files proved everything.
Croft’s shell companies.
The fabricated Rossi evidence.
Payments to Luca.
Political bribery.
And one more horrifying detail.
Sebastian had paid a private medical consultant to track Amelia’s fertility.
The pregnancy had never been accidental.
Amelia read the document once.
Then closed it.
“I want to testify.”
Adrian looked at her.
“You don’t have to.”
“I know.”
“You’ll be exposed publicly.”
“I know.”
“Sebastian’s attorneys will attack you.”
“I know.”
Adrian stepped closer.
“Then why?”
Amelia rested both hands over her stomach.
“Because my child will someday ask me what I did when I finally had the chance to stop him.”
Her eyes were steady.
“I want an answer I can live with.”
Three days later, federal indictments were prepared.
Sebastian realized the walls were closing.
And he disappeared.
No airport record.
No border crossing.
No electronic trail.
Adrian doubled security.
Amelia moved into a protected wing of the estate.
Everyone expected Sebastian to flee the country.
Adrian knew better.
Men like Sebastian did not abandon what they believed belonged to them.
At 2:17 the following morning, Adrian woke to an alarm.
Marco’s voice came through his phone.
“He’s inside.”
Adrian was out of bed instantly.
“Where?”
“The east wing.”
His heart stopped.
Amelia’s wing.
Adrian ran.
By the time he reached the corridor, one guard was unconscious.
A door stood open.
Amelia’s room.
Empty.
The window moved slightly in the night air.
Then Adrian heard her voice downstairs.
“Get away from me.”
He followed it toward the old conservatory.
Sebastian stood beneath the glass ceiling.
One arm was wrapped around Amelia.
His other hand held a gun.
Amelia’s face was pale.
But she was standing.
Sebastian smiled when Adrian entered.
“There he is.”
Adrian stopped.
“Let her go.”
Sebastian pressed the gun closer.
“She’s mine.”
Amelia’s voice was quiet.
“No.”
Sebastian looked down at her.
“What?”
Amelia’s fear was visible.
So was something stronger.
“I said no.”
For years, that word had been impossible.
Now she said it again.
“I am not yours.”
Sebastian’s expression twisted.
Adrian saw the tiny shift in his attention.
One second.
That was enough.
Amelia drove her heel backward and twisted away.
Adrian moved.
Marco’s men flooded the room.
The weapon hit the stone floor.
Seconds later Sebastian Croft was on his knees, surrounded.
He stared at Amelia with pure hatred.
“You think this is over?”
Amelia looked down at him.
“No.”
She rested a hand over her unborn child.
“But you are.”
May you like
And for the first time since she had met Sebastian Croft, Amelia walked away while he was the one unable to follow.
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