Chapter 6 - The Woman Nobody Would Mock Again
Carmine’s arrest broke the Falcone organization open.
The evidence inside Gabriel’s vault revealed financial crimes, bribery, theft, and the conspiracy surrounding Gabriel’s attempted murder.
Several senior men disappeared before sunrise.
Others cooperated.
Gabriel did something nobody expected.
He dismantled the illegal operations himself.
Three weeks later, Matilda entered the library carrying coffee.
Gabriel was standing beside the window.
“You’re supposed to be resting.”
He looked over.
“You sound like Evelyn.”
“She’s smarter than you.”
“That seems to be the consensus.”
Matilda placed the coffee down.
Gabriel noticed her uniform.
“Why are you wearing that?”
Matilda looked down.
“Because I work here.”
“Not anymore.”
Her expression changed.
“You’re firing me?”
“Yes.”
Matilda stared at him.
“After I saved your life?”
Gabriel almost smiled.
“You’re terrible at accepting promotions.”
“What promotion?”
He slid a folder across the desk.
Matilda opened it.
Falcone Foundation.
Director of Household Employee Welfare and Community Programs.
She looked up.
“You’re joking.”
“I rarely joke.”
“I’m not qualified.”
“You outsmarted Carmine Rossi.”
“That doesn’t make me qualified to run a foundation.”
“You managed my entire household for three days while secretly coordinating with Victor, Evelyn, and Mercer.”
Matilda closed the folder.
“I carried coffee.”
“You carried information.”
“I folded sheets.”
“You smuggled my body through the laundry.”
Matilda tried not to smile.
Gabriel leaned against the desk.
“And you walked into a room full of men who had spent their lives intimidating people and convinced them you were harmless.”
“That part wasn’t difficult.”
His smile vanished.
“I know.”
Matilda looked at him.
Gabriel continued.
“That’s something I should’ve noticed sooner.”
“What?”
“How they treated you.”
“You stopped Carmine once.”
“Once wasn’t enough.”
Matilda was silent.
Gabriel gestured toward the folder.
“The foundation will provide medical assistance, legal support, education grants, and emergency funds to estate employees and their families.”
Matilda’s eyes stopped on one line.
Medical assistance.
“My mother?”
“Covered.”
She looked up sharply.
“Gabriel—”
“No conditions.”
“I can’t accept charity.”
“It isn’t charity.”
“What is it?”
“A correction.”
Matilda shook her head.
“I don’t want you paying me because I saved your life.”
“I’m not.”
“Then why?”
Gabriel considered her.
“Because you saw something wrong and acted while everyone more powerful than you looked away.”
He tapped the folder.
“That’s exactly who I want controlling this money.”
Matilda slowly sat down.
“How much money?”
“Twenty million initially.”
Her head snapped up.
“Initially?”
Gabriel nodded.
“You’re insane.”
“So I’ve been told.”
She stared at the papers again.
Then noticed the salary.
“Gabriel.”
“Yes?”
“This number has too many zeros.”
“No, it doesn’t.”
“I was making seventeen dollars an hour.”
“I know.”
“How?”
“I remember everything in my house.”
Matilda smiled.
May you like
This time Gabriel smiled too.
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