Free Web NovelChapter 161: Saved you from dying
"Fine. We do it your way," Jameson relented. "Call your man. Tell him to move Martin to the place I provide."
"I will. But Remo goes to the hospital first," Luca said, refusing to budge. He kept his eyes locked on Jameson, matching his gaze with defiance.
Jameson leaned in, warning him. "Luca, the longer you drag this out, the worse the fallout is going to be for you. Don’t test my patience."
"Fine. It’s a deal." Luca pulled his phone from his pocket and speed-dialed Bastian. As soon as the line connected, he demanded, "Do you have Martin secure?"
Without waiting for a reply, he tapped the screen to switch the call to speakerphone, placing it on his palm.
"Yes, he’s with me," Bastian’s voice crackled through the speaker.
Jameson didn’t waste a second. He leaned over the phone and commanded, "Have him drop Martin off at the Port of Tessa. Right now."
Silence stretched over the line for a beat before Bastian spoke again with a suspicious tone. "Luca, who the hell is that?" He knew something terrible had happened.
"Bastian, just deliver Martin to the Port of Tessa. I’ll explain everything when you get back," Luca ordered, his free hand tightening into a fist until his knuckles turned white.
"Understood. On it," Bastian replied without a second thought. He didn’t push for answers; years of working together told him that questioning Luca right now would only jeopardize whatever tight spot he was in.
The line went dead. Luca slipped the phone back into his pocket and looked up at Jameson. "Now let Remo leave."
"And why should I trust you?" Jameson countered, tilting his head with a cold, calculating look. "How do I know your man will actually deliver Martin to the port once my leverage walks out that door?"
Luca didn’t blink. "Because if he doesn’t, you can put a bullet through my head."
Jameson stared at him for a long moment, gauging the certainty in Luca’s eyes. Satisfied, he gave a curt nod and gestured to his guards to step aside. The men cleared the way, allowing them to move Remo out toward the hospital.
As the tension in the garden reached a breaking point, Jameson reluctantly gave the signal to his men. True to the terms of the deal, the perimeter of armed men shifted, creating a space for the guests and family members to finally flee the grounds.
"I won’t go," Sara said as she dug her heels into the grass.
"No. Go with my parents. You can’t stay behind," Luca told her. He grabbed her by the shoulders, forcing her to look at him. "Please understand," he stated, looking into her eyes, trying to convey the danger she was in if she stayed.
Joseph, her half-brother, stepped toward her and gripped her arm gently but firmly. "Sara, we must go. Now, while we have the chance."
"No. I will stay with Luca. I won’t leave him," she insisted, fiercely pulling away from Joseph’s grasp. She remained firm on her decision, refusing to let fear dictate her moves. She then turned to Luca’s parents, gesturing urgently toward the exit. "Go. Leave first."
Turning back to her half-brother, she gave him a look that brooked no argument. "Joseph, go. Luca and I will be back there. Safe."
"Sara, you can’t stay here either," Luca stated.
"I love you, okay? I can’t leave you behind," she argued, tears blurring her vision. Ever since Remo got shot, a fear had taken root in her chest that Luca could be next.
Joseph stepped forward, clearly wanting to stay back too, but one of Luca’s cousins grabbed his shoulder and pulled him along with the retreating crowd.
Within minutes, the heavy silence of the palace garden swallowed the last sounds of the fleeing guests.
The vast garden turned completely empty, leaving only Luca and Sara standing alone against Jameson and his ring of armed men.
"You betrayed my grandpa, Jameson," Luca said, his voice dropping into a hiss as he stared down the old man.
"Your grandfather made me his servant when we were supposed to be friends," Jameson muttered, his jaw tightening as decades of resentment finally spilled out. "He was never willing to give me a real seat at the table. I spent my entire life playing the loyal butler in this house while he held all the power."
"Are you even serious?" Luca’s fists clenched hard.
Beside him, Sara immediately grabbed his arm, her fingers digging into his sleeve as she silently pleaded with him to calm down.
She didn’t want him provoking a man who had nothing left to lose, especially with the gun still in Jameson’s hand.
"I always blamed my father and everyone else for my grandpa’s demise," Luca said, taking a slow, heavy step toward the old man. His voice shook, not with fear, but with the weight of a decade’s worth of misplaced anger.
"Jameson, you of all people should know how much he trusted you. But yeah... he was a foolish man. A fool who saved you from dying. Did you forget who arranged the kidney for you when your own son refused to give you his? Grandpa did that. He trusted you with his life, and in the end, you did that to him?!" fгee𝑤ebɳoveɭ.cøm
Sara watched Luca’s profile, a profound ache tightening in her chest as she witnessed his raw pain. She knew the agony he had carried during those years when his grandfather was on the brink of death.
To know that Jameson, the very man who had helped raise Luca was the one who destroyed his teenage days and his family.
"All of you, lower your weapons!"
The voice reverberated through the open air as dozens of heavily armed men surged from the palace shadows, instantly encircling Jameson’s crew. Standing at the forefront of the sweep was Lucius, Luca’s old friend.
"You!" Jameson hissed, his face contorting in shock. Sensing his leverage slipping, he swung his gun toward Luca, but before his finger could squeeze the trigger, a gun shot was heard.
Lucius’s bullet struck Jameson clean through the wrist, making him cry in excruciating pain.
~~~~~ free𝑤ebnovel.com
Sorry for not able to update for 5 months. I was stuck in the plot. I did have half Chapter written but couldn’t write further. Finally, I could write and has uploaded it. I’ve not abandoned this story and will complete it at my pace.
