“You destroyed my family!”
Mirabel did not answer.
She simply stood beside her husband.
Alive.
Unbroken.
The officers led Madame Hannah to the vehicle. She struggled weakly.
“I was protecting you!” she shouted again and again. “You are my only son!”
Jerry looked away. He could not bear to watch.
The police car door slammed shut.
The convoy drove off.
And for the first time since Jerry was a child, the mansion felt empty.
That night, Jerry and Mirabel sat together in the living room—the same room where Madame Hannah once hosted elegant charity dinners.
Everything looked normal.
Nothing felt the same.
Jerry stared at his hands.
“I keep thinking I will wake up.”
Mirabel leaned her head against his shoulder.
“I kept thinking I would die.”
He turned to her quickly.
“I’m sorry. I should have protected you.”
She shook her head.
“You didn’t know.”
Silence stretched between them.
Heavy. Healing.
Then Jerry’s phone rang.
Commissioner Bello.
“She has been formally detained,” he said. “We will charge her tomorrow.”
Jerry closed his eyes briefly.
“Thank you.”
When the call ended, he exhaled slowly.
A chapter of his life had ended.
But consequences were only beginning.
