ENDING THE LAST BETRAYAL LOOP: Faked My Death and Found REAL FREEDOM
Chapter 8
Chapter 8
The corporate world suddenly erupted into a massive purge. Executives were shitting their pants.
Everyone was terrified that one wrong move would get them dragged away and destroyed by Luca’s cleanup crew.
But the public was eating it up.
Even though Luca’s purge was brutal as fuck, every single person who got taken down had their crimes laid out in excruciating detail.
Most of it tied back to the corporate embezzlement scandal that had gotten Seraphina’s father murdered.
People who’d been screwed over by those corrupt assholes were crying tears of joy.
Even Luca’s reputation got a major boost.
The news reached me all the way out here in São Paulo, back in my family’s homeland.
The old lady who delivered groceries was blown away. “That Mr. Devereux is something else. Not only did he clean house for poor Mr. Locke who got killed years ago, but he’s got real integrity. The board keeps begging him to take over as CEO, and he keeps saying no.”
“Says he’s just managing things for his nephew, doesn’t want to steal what’s not his.”
The cleaning lady nodded. “That’s the top job at one of the world’s biggest companies. Most people would kill their own mothers for that kind of power.”
The grocery lady kept going. “But that’s not even the craziest part.”
“My nephew who works in the city says that after Mrs. Devereux died, Mr. Devereux kicked out all his girlfriends and just sits with her coffin all day.”
The cleaning lady’s eyes went huge. “There are really guys that devoted?”
I couldn’t help snorting.
So Luca loves whoever’s dead? That’s supposed to be devotion?
The two women knew I’d come here alone with kids and a dark past. Probably figured I was done with men, so they dropped
- it.
After paying for the groceries, the old lady was about to leave when her little grandson came tearing in, gasping for air.
“Vovó! Vovó! There are cops everywhere outside!”
“There’s some crazy guy walking down the street with a coffin!”
Everyone in the courtyard rushed out to see what was happening.
The cleaning lady dragged me along. “Serafina, don’t stay locked up inside all the time. Come see what’s going on.”
The street had been cleared by police. A long funeral procession stretched down the avenue.
ENDING THE LAST BETRAYAL LOOP: Faked My Death and Found REAL FREEDOM
5.096
Chapter 8
The mourners in black went on forever, disappearing around the corner.
1 immediately spotted the “crazy guy” they were talking about.
It was Luca!
His hair was completely white, exactly like mine had been when I died in our previous life.
His eyes were completely hollow. He just clutched three memorial plaques, taking a step forward then dropping to his knees to prostrate himself.
Like a walking dead man.
People nearby were reading the plaques out loud.
“Beloved wife, Seraphina Locke Devereux.”
The two smaller plaques had no names.
People whispered, “I heard Mrs. Devereux had twins, but they died before they could be baptized.”
“Mr. Devereux is saving the naming for when he sees them in heaven.”
“Heaven? Mr. Devereux is planning to…”
“I heard from a traveling businessman that Mr. Devereux crawled on his knees all the way from New York. He’s been here three days without eating or drinking!”
The cleaning lady wiped tears from her face. “There really are men this devoted in the world.”
“Damn cruel fate, why couldn’t Mrs. Devereux live longer.”
The procession moved past, and the refrigerated hearse they were following held the body double Eleanor had arranged for
- me.
Three months had passed, and the corpse looked exactly the same as when it was fresh.
Behind that was a prison transport van.
The woman inside was completely batshit crazy, filthy and covered in infected wounds. She looked familiar.
After staring for a while, I realized the woman with maggots crawling out of her sores was Sophie.
In her demented screaming, I could occasionally make out a sentence or two–all cursing Luca for being a coward.
Further back, a massive white tiger paced in a reinforced transport cage.
My chest felt tight, but I couldn’t figure out what I was feeling.
Sophie, who had destroyed me. The white tiger that had killed me.
And this place–São Paulo, where my grandparents had fled to, somewhere I’d mentioned once to Luca as my family’s sanctuary.
When I left, I’d been so clear that I never wanted anything to do with Luca again.
11:44 CO
ENDING THE LAST BETRAYAL LOOP: Faked My Death and Found REAL FREEDOM
Chapter 8
But somehow, I found myself following the procession.
At a beautiful spot in the hills overlooking the city, Luca stopped.
He carefully lifted the corpse from the refrigerated hearse and placed it in a pre–dug grave.
Then Luca filled the grave with dirt, handful by handful.
When everything was done, Luca sat in front of the headstone, touching it tenderly over and over.
“Seraphina, I know when I get to the other side, you won’t want to see me.”
“I can only talk to you a little more while I’m still breathing.”
“I fucked up in two lifetimes. I was blind and stupid. These past three months, I’ve prayed to every god I could think of.”
“If there’s another life, I want to see you again, but I also hope you never meet a piece of shit like me.”
“Let me become a butterfly and rest on your shoulder for just a moment, okay, Seraphina?”
“I’m talking too much. I’m probably pissing you off. Go on, Seraphina. Take the children and go.”
Luca stood up with tears streaming down his face, and when he looked at Sophie, his expression turned ice cold.
He dragged Sophie out and threw her into the tiger’s cage.
He watched without flinching as the tiger tore her apart, then sat back down by the headstone.
All the locals who’d been watching ran away in terror.
I left too.
A few days later, people were still saying Luca was sitting by the grave.
I went back.
The security guards were drinking and bitching when I brought them food and beer.
“The pay is insane, but this job
is
creepy as hell.”
“Mr. Devereux died yesterday, but he ordered us to wait until his body decomposes before taking his remains to be cremated and scattered.”
My heart jumped, and I spilled the beer in my hands.
After a long moment, I gathered the courage to look at the headstone.
Luca was slumped against it, his face gray and lifeless.
But he was smiling, clutching a Möbius ring tightly in his hand.
The one I’d given him on our wedding night.
Under the soft glow of candles in our honeymoon suite, he’d held my hand as he slipped the matching ring onto my finger, asking softly, “Seraphina, will you love me without end, the way this ring has no beginning or end?”
1144 C
ENDING THE LAST BETRAYAL LOOP: Faked My Death and Found REAL FREEDOM
Chapter
“Hey, lady, why are you crying?”
The guard’s voice snapped me back to reality.
I wiped my sleeve across my face and forced a smile.
“Just dust in my eyes from the wind.”
I packed up my bag and walked home.
Luca, your hair went white for me.
Now we’re even.
