CHAPTER 401. A CAGE FOR THE QUEEN. I love youChiara stared at that letter over and over again. She hadn't dared to open it, but she also couldn't bring herself to throw it away. She didn't know why. She didn't fully recognize the handwriting as Jhon’s, but something inside her told her that the passage in the book had been written by his hand.Many things had been making her uneasy lately, but she was alert enough to know that Jhon hadn't sent any other letters.Three days later, she finally opened the book and pulled out the envelope. Even though her whole soul trembled, her hand was steady as she tore it open, and on the other side of the cameras, Jhon held his breath.Chiara closed her eyes for a moment, summoning the courage to read its contents. Only then did she realize that the handwriting in the book was very similar. She sat on the sofa, afraid she might collapse, and began to read:"Chiara.I don’t even have the right to call you 'love,' 'dear,' 'my beloved,' even though I

CHAPTER 403. A CAGE FOR THE QUEEN. A Game for the QueenChiara flinched, startled, and on the other side of the cameras, Jhon jumped up from his chair, breathing as if he were swallowing his tongue. —“Go... go out...?”— she murmured, trying to find a way out— “Where to?” —“For a walk,”— Viktor replied, and Jhon exhaled— “There are beautiful gardens here, and we even have a small orchard. Don’t tell anyone, but we’ve got strawberries.” Chiara smiled and accepted the invitation to go for a walk. A weight lifted off her shoulders because at that moment, any romantic proposition would have made her faint—and not out of excitement. They left the main building, followed by one of the guards, and headed down a path toward one of the side gardens. As they walked, Chiara felt herself relaxing more and more. The pleasant chill in the air, the scent of herbs and flowers, the soft breeze on her face… She began to feel good and remembered why she had always loved walking outdoors as a child. V

CHAPTER 405. A CAGE FOR THE QUEEN. The End of the GameShe wanted only one thing, and Jhon knew it: to save her family. Before, he had thought he shouldn’t get involved, that she was doing it for her name, and that money was more important than her freedom. But seeing Chiara in that cage was enough to make him realize that no, money wasn’t just money, and Asterion Bank wasn’t just a bank—it was her family’s entire legacy. He had destroyed generations of work with a single USB. He didn’t sleep that night, not when he knew he had one last chance with her, the final one, and that he needed to find a way to earn another at any cost. He waited, waited impatiently for the next day, after the morning nausea and the rejection of any food, for Chiara to sit down in front of that chessboard. But first, she received a visitor. Chiara hugged her sister and accepted the gifts the whole family had sent with her. “I’m sorry I couldn’t come yesterday. It was complete madness. I wasn’t even in t

CHAPTER 407. A CAGE FOR THE QUEEN. Trust MeJohn was on a roll. He could feel it in each of his two broken bones. It wasn’t just because he had struck a deal with Mamma and the Conte, but because he knew they wouldn’t go back on their word. At least on their end, the clients would return to Asterion Bank.Now, he faced another battle, one much tougher because it was against people who were used to being untouchable.“Malcolm Sabater, none other than the Chief of Staff of the White House.”The president’s right-hand man and the one who knew all forty-six dignitaries in the government who kept their corrupt money at Asterion.“Is everything ready?” John asked Billy as soon as he landed in Switzerland, and Billy handed him the Malcolm Sabater file.“Now the hardest part remains, and that depends on your wife’s goodwill,” Billy warned, not seeming too confident about that particular fact.However, John seemed more than determined. “Give the package to Speedy. He knows what to do.”From t

CHAPTER 409. A CAGE FOR THE QUEEN. Shall we play tonight?Chiara hung up and placed the phone beside her as she kept her eyes fixed on the floor. Then she curled up on the bed and closed her eyes, trying to process everything that was happening, especially what she had just learned.Three hours later, Jhon started to worry, but eventually, he saw her get up to have something for dinner. She walked her usual rounds around the room and then stopped in front of the box where she had stored the chess set and the remnants of the tablet they used to communicate."We shouldn’t have broken this, right, baby?" she said, caressing her belly. "Sometimes we feel like talking to someone, even if that someone is your father and he drives us crazy."Jhon felt his heart swell when he heard those words, and within seconds, he was already asking Billy to prepare another tablet for him. He was sure that for Speedy, smuggling it into the prison wouldn’t be any harder than the first time, and Jhon smiled