Chapter 194 One Hundred & Ninety Four

Chapter 194 One Hundred & Ninety Four
Giovanni stood there, holding Ganni tighter against his chest, his knuckles turning white.
His eyes never left Elara.
“What about Adrian?” he asked, his voice low but heavy with anger. “You tried to kill him… why would you do that to your fiancé?”
Elara paused…
Then laughed.
A sharp, hollow sound.
“Fiancé?” she repeated, amused. “Adrian is my bodyguard.”
Giovanni’s brows furrowed.
“I knew he was in love with me,” she continued casually. “So I let him believe we meant something. Smiled at him… stayed close… even gave him what he wanted.”
Her lips curled slightly.
“The engagement?” she shrugged. “Fake. Just something to keep him where I needed him.”
Giovanni’s jaw clenched.
“And when he started becoming a problem…” she added lightly, “he had to go.”
Silence.
“I poisoned him,” she said, as if it meant nothing. “Slowly. For months.”
Ganni shifted in Giovanni’s arms, sensing the tension.
Giovanni stared at her in disbelief.
“Nothing serious,” she added with a small shrug.
That snapped something in him.
“Nothing serious?” Giovanni repeated, his voice rising with anger. “You nearly killed him!”
He took a step forward.
“Not just him… Raven… Matteo… you stabbed them both!”
Elara blinked.
Then tilted her head slightly.
“Are they dead?” she asked.
Giovanni froze.
“…What?”
Her expression didn’t change.
“Are they fucking dead?” she repeated, almost impatient. “They’re alive, right? So what’s the problem?”
Ganni whimpered softly.
Giovanni’s face hardened, something dark settling deep in his eyes.
“You’re sick…” he muttered.
A pause.
Then his voice dropped again.
“What about Maeve?”
Elara’s fingers tightened slightly around the knife as a slow smile spread across her lips.
“You killed her… didn’t you?”
She didn’t answer immediately.
She just… smiled.
Playing with the blade in her hand.
Then finally…
“Well…” she said softly.
Her eyes gleamed with something cold.
“That bitch was starting to annoy me. So she had to die.”
Silence fell like a weight.
Giovanni stood there…completely still.
Every piece of truth crashing together.
Every lie… every manipulation… every life she touched…
Destroyed.
Ganni clung to him tighter. “Daddy…”
Giovanni didn’t move.
Didn’t blink.
When he finally spoke…
His voice wasn’t angry anymore.
It was something worse.
Cold. Empty.
“You don’t love me.”
Elara’s smile faltered slightly.
“You don’t even know what love is.”
Her grip on the knife tightened.
“I did all of this for you!” she snapped, her voice rising again.
“No,” Giovanni said quietly.
His eyes locked onto hers.
“You did all of this for yourself.”
The words hit harder than any shout.
Elara’s expression cracked.
For a split second…
Hurt.
Then rage.
Wild.
Uncontrolled.
“You’re wrong!” she screamed, raising the knife slightly. “Everything I did… was for us!”
Outside…
Gabriele tensed.
Giovanni shifted his stance just slightly, holding Ganni closer… shielding him.
Because now…
There was no point talking sense into her. She had clearly lost it.
Giovanni stood there, his expression cold, unshaken despite the storm in front of him.
Slowly… deliberately…
He spoke.
“Everything you just said…”
Elara’s breathing was still uneven, her grip tight on the knife.
“…it’s been recorded.”
She blinked.
Giovanni’s eyes didn’t leave hers.
“I called Detective Reyes before I walked in,” he continued, his voice steady. “The line’s been open this whole time.”
Silence.
Heavy.
“You’re done for, Elara,” he said quietly. “You’re going to rot in jail for everything you’ve done.”
For a second…
She just stared at him.
Then…
She smiled.
Slow.
Unsettling.
A soft laugh escaped her lips.
“Jail?” she whispered.
Her eyes glistened with tears… but there was something broken behind them now.
“No…” she said, shaking her head slowly. “No, no… You don’t get to lock me away… not after everything I did for you…”
Her hand lifted.
The knife moved.
Up.
To her neck.
Ganni gasped softly, clutching tighter to Giovanni.
“Elara…” Giovanni’s voice changed instantly, all the cold gone, replaced with urgency. “Don’t do.. don’t do this.”
Tears streamed down her face now.
“If I can’t have you…” she whispered, her voice trembling, “then there’s no point… there’s nothing left…”
“Stop,” Giovanni said firmly, taking a careful step forward. “Put the knife down. This isn’t the way out.”
She shook her head violently, the blade pressing lightly against her skin.
“Don’t come closer!” she cried.
Giovanni stopped immediately, raising one hand slightly.
“Okay… okay… I’m not moving,” he said, his voice calm but strained. “Just… listen to me.”
She was crying harder now, breath coming in broken gasps.
“I did everything for you… everything…”
“I know,” Giovanni said softly, even though his jaw was tight. “But this isn’t the answer. You don’t want to do this.”
“I do!” she screamed suddenly. “You chose her! You always choose her!”
Her hand trembled.
The blade pressed deeper.
A thin line of blood appeared.
“Elara…stop!” Giovanni’s voice rose now. “Don’t do anything crazy!”
“Why won’t you want me!” she cried, laughing through her tears.
The knife shifted…
She was about to drag it across…
A loud gunshot cracked through the room.
Elara screamed.
The knife flew out of her hand, clattering across the floor as she grabbed her wrist, collapsing to her knees.
Gabriele stood at the doorway, gun still raised, breathing hard.
“Drop it!” he barked, even though the knife was already gone.
Elara sobbed, clutching her bleeding hand, her body shaking uncontrollably.
Giovanni didn’t waste a second.
He moved fast… pulling Ganni back, away from her, shielding him completely.
“It’s okay… It’s okay…” he murmured to his son, his voice low, trying to calm him.
Outside, sirens began to echo in the distance.
Getting closer.
Elara looked up through her tears, her face pale, broken.
“You shot me…you animal” she whispered, staring at Gabriele like she couldn’t believe it.
Gabriele didn’t lower the gun.
“You’re lucky that's all I did,” he said coldly.
The sirens grew louder.
Red and blue lights flashed through the windows.
Giovanni stood there, holding Ganni tightly, his chest still rising hard.
It was over.
Finally…
Over.