Chapter 266

Chapter 266:

Now, it was her only option.

The weight of the weapon felt strange in her hand as she pulled it from her bag. She’d watched enough movies to know how to hold it, how to aim. But the reality of it—the solid heaviness of death in her palm—made her stomach turn.

Rose didn’t allow herself to hesitate. Hesitation was for weak people—people like Camille, always looking for someone else to make decisions for her. Rose wasn’t weak. She’d proven that time and again.

The sirens grew louder. Minutes, maybe seconds, before they arrived.

She walked back toward Room 17, each step steady despite the storm raging in her mind. All those years fighting to escape the foster system. All those years…

Pretending to be the perfect adopted daughter. All those years watching Camille get everything Rose deserved.

She wouldn’t let Herod take it all away. Not now. Not when she was so close to winning.

Outside Room 17, Rose paused, listening. Through the thin door, she could hear Herod’s voice. The words were unclear, but the tone was unmistakable. He was telling them. Giving them details. Betraying her.

Rose raised the gun, aimed at the door, and pulled the trigger.

The explosion of sound shocked her. The gun jumped in her hand, the recoil stronger than she had expected. A hole appeared in the cheap wooden door.

Inside, Herod’s voice stopped.

Not enough. She couldn’t be sure. She fired again. And again. Three holes now punctured the door, forming a rough triangle.

Silence from inside the room.

Rose stepped closer, pressing her ear to the door. Nothing. Not even movement.

Had she hit him? Was he dead? Wounded?

She had to know. Had to be sure.

With her left hand, Rose turned the doorknob slowly. The door swung open with a creak.

Herod lay on the floor near the bed, the phone fallen from his hand. Blood spread across his chest, staining his white shirt with expanding circles of red. His eyes were open, staring at the ceiling, his mouth moving slightly as if trying to form words.

“Rose,” he managed, the name barely audible.

She stepped into the room, the gun still raised. “You shouldn’t have betrayed me,” she said, her voice steadier than she felt.

“They’ll… know…” His words came between shallow breaths.

“They’ll know nothing,” Rose replied. “By the time they find you, I’ll be gone. And if they come after me, I’ll tell them you were obsessed with me. That you forced me to help you. That I was afraid for my life.”

Herod’s eyes found hers, filled with a clarity that unnerved her. Even dying, he saw through her. “They… won’t… believe you.”

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