CHAPTER 384. A CAGE FOR THE QUEEN. A MistakeChiara felt like she couldn’t breathe, her chest tightened, and tears welled up in her eyes, unstoppable.“How could you...?” she sobbed, trying to pull away from him. “How could you do this to me? You... you betrayed me!”“I didn’t betray you! I’m just trying to get you out of trouble!”“Get me out of trouble?!” Chiara shouted, desperate, clutching her head with both hands. “Out of a mess that *you* put me in? No one knew about Franco Garibaldi! No one had access to his account but me until...”Chiara staggered away, leaning on the kitchen counter for a moment before rushing to the trash can to vomit what little she’d eaten that day.Jhon ran his hands through his hair, helpless, but when he tried to help her, she instinctively recoiled. Chiara splashed water on her face from the kitchen sink, but she knew those tears wouldn’t stop. How could she have been so wrong about him? How could he hurt her so much after all they had been through t
CHAPTER 385. A CAGE FOR THE QUEEN. What do you mean?A week ago, she had been desperately praying for Jhon not to die, and now, all she could think about was how much harm he caused her with just his existence.She curled up in a seat and cried the entire flight, unable to stop. But by the time she landed in The Hague, she had made a decision. She headed to the hotel where the legal team was staying and met with them. Even though they all advised against the strategy she wanted to follow, Chiara knew it was the only way.That very afternoon, Noémi arrived in The Hague. She protested, screamed, threatened to massacre Jhon and all his ancestors, but she couldn’t make her sister change her mind. They returned to Zurich the next day, and Chiara began liquidating all her personal assets. It wasn’t easy to gather the money she needed, but she knew that getting the Italian out of jail wasn’t enough.“This can’t be happening, God! It’s so unfair!” Noémi growled as she watched Chiara gather m
CHAPTER 386. A CAGE FOR THE QUEEN. I, Chiara Keller…"She will pay for him..." "She will pay for him..." "She will pay for him..." "She will pay for him..." "She will pay for him..."Those words echoed in Jhon's mind like a bottomless pit. He grabbed the documents and immediately began reading Chiara's statement. She had turned herself in, confessing to everything that had happened, even to committing fraud against Mr. Garibaldi, using his name to hide the money she was concealing from the tax authorities."This can't be..." he muttered in despair."Oh, but she did!" growled the Deputy Director. "And now Garibaldi is free, and he's disappeared again!"Jhon stood up from his desk and grabbed his jacket to leave, but his boss grabbed his arm."Where do you think you're going?""Where do you think?! To The Hague. I need to see Chiara."Jhon pulled away and left without another word. The only thing that mattered at that moment was finding Chiara. He boarded the first flight he could
CHAPTER 387. A CAGE FOR THE QUEEN. I've Already Made My DecisionShe stared blankly at a point on his white shirt and nodded for a few seconds before parting her lips."I, Chiara Keller, used Franco Garibaldi's name to open a fictitious account of one hundred and thirty million euros to evade...""Chiara!""I've already made my decision.""It's the wrong decision! Please, Chiara!" Jhon begged, tears filling his eyes. "I don't care what happened. I won’t let you be condemned for something you didn’t do. Look at me... Look at me!"Chiara lifted her eyes to his, but when he saw them, all Jhon could see was emptiness."I, Chiara Keller, used Franco Garibaldi's name to open a fictitious account of one hundred and thirty million euros to evade the tax authorities of my country..."Jhon growled in frustration, a mix of anger and helplessness, as he let her go, understanding he wouldn't get through to her. Desperate didn’t even begin to describe it. He couldn't believe Chiara was in that pla
CHAPTER 388. A CAGE FOR THE QUEEN. It’s not too lateJhon didn’t know exactly what it meant, but he understood the concept of "hell." The days that followed were absolute torment for him. The judicial police in The Hague weren’t investigating whether Chiara should be tried but rather where she should be tried. Jhon was more than convinced that Chiara wasn’t involved in anything close to money laundering—she had simply hidden money for the wrong person, nothing more.“You’ve got to make her retract her statement!” yelled the Deputy Director, furious that the biggest case of his career had slipped through his fingers. “You’ve got to make her blame Franco Garibaldi!”Jhon clenched his fists as he stared at a fixed point on his desk.“Did you savor it?” he asked suddenly, catching his boss off guard. “I get it now. You tasted it, but only for a moment.”The Deputy Director had been on edge for days. After handing the case over to the international authorities, he could no longer reclaim
CHAPTER 389. A CAGE FOR THE QUEEN. Special ingredient“Do we know anything?” he asked one of his agents, who had stayed behind to inform him of any developments.“Nothing new. I overheard the investigators say that the case is still inconclusive, but everything depends on... you know, our boss. They say this case wouldn’t even exist if it weren’t for his insistence. So, if he decides to charge her with something more serious, they’ll back him up.”Jhon ran his hands through his hair in frustration. More than anything, he wanted to get Chiara out of there, but he couldn’t. The best he could hope for was that she’d be sent back to Switzerland for a simple fraud trial.He didn’t manage to speak with Chiara that day. He thought it was because she didn’t want to see him, but when a guard gave him a different answer, he felt like his world was crumbling.“In the infirmary?... What do you mean, in the infirmary? Did something happen to her?!” he asked frantically.“No... well, yes. It seems
CHAPTER 390. A CAGE FOR THE QUEEN. What kind of deal?Chiara took a deep breath as she received the news.“We’re going back to Switzerland,” Noémi told her, hugging her. “The lawyers just told me, and I ran over here, Ara. I wanted you to know as soon as possible. The case will be transferred to the Swiss authorities, and things will be much easier there.”For a long moment, Chiara remained silent. She felt unwell, exhausted, her head spinning. She had fainted a couple of times, but that was fairly normal given her condition.She lowered her head and looked at her belly. She had known for just a few days: she was pregnant. Pregnant with Jhon’s child. And the worst part was that she couldn’t do anything about it because she wasn’t willing to lose anything else at that moment, least of all her child.“That’s good news, but they’ve been postponing the deliberation for a while now. What happened? Why did they suddenly agree?” she asked, unable to believe her luck.Noémi hesitated before
CHAPTER 391. A CAGE FOR THE QUEEN. Sacrificing the QueenChiara knew this. She had always known that once she took the first step, the chain of events would be irreversible.“So, what’s your deal?”The prosecutor handed the documents to her lawyers, who began reviewing them.“I can guarantee you complete anonymity,” he said. “We won’t involve the media; no one will know anything about what happens. You’ll also be comfortable, cared for, with all the attention you need and as much freedom as we can give you.”Chiara smiled sadly.“I’ll be a VIP prisoner?”“Yes, something like that,” the prosecutor said kindly. “Believe me, I’m very sorry you’re going through this, and I will personally ensure that all the conditions are met to the letter.”Chiara took a deep breath and asked for a moment with her lawyers.“If we go to trial, it will probably take longer than this to get a verdict, and we don’t know if it will be favorable,” they told her, but she had already made her decision.By the