Please Come Back, My Love novel Chapter 377

Chapter 377-

A pause. “Brought there, sir?”

“She’s not to be harmed. But she’s not to leave, either. Post security at the main entrances. No phone, no internet, no contact with the outside world.” I pulled up the surveillance photo of Claire entering the editing suite: Tell her it’s for her own protection. That there s been a credible threat and we need to keep her safe until it’s resolved.”

“And if she refuses?”

“She won’t.” I closed the file with more force than necessary. “Because if she does, I have her arrested for conspiracy to commit murder.”

Another beat of silence. Then: “Understood, I’ll handle it personally.”

“Good. And Adrian? No one knows about this except you, me, and the security team. Not my mother, not Blake, no one.”

“Yes, sir.”

I ended the call and sat back, staring at the darkening skyline.

This wasn’t mercy. It was….. containment. A chance to confront Claire privately, to understand why she’d done something so reckless, so vicious. To see if there was any explanation that could justify what she’d put Rosa Cruz through.

She’d been careless, I told myself. Jealous and stupid, but not truly malicious. She probably thought the video would just scare Rosa, make Sophia back off.

She couldn’t have anticipated the severity of the reaction.

It was an accident. A terrible, tragic accident born of jealousy and poor judgment.

I needed to believe that.

My phone buzzed. Sophia’s number.

I stared at it, thumb hovering over the screen. She’d asked me what I was going to do about Claire. I’d told her I’d handle it.

I just hadn’t told her how.

I answered on the fourth ring.

“Lucas.” Her voice was flat, scraped raw. “Did you find out who did it?”

No greeting. No preamble. Just the question that had probably been eating her alive for the past day and a half.

‘Yeah.” I kept my tone neutral. “I know who sent the video.”

“Completely. I have surveillance footage, financial records, digital forensics. She commissioned a deepfake video editing service, paid cash, and sent it from a burner phone three blacks from her partment. I paused. “There’s no question it was her.

“Don’t.” The word cracked like a whip. “Don’t you dare tell me to be reasonable. That bitch tried to kill my mother. My mother, Lucas. The only person who ever- Her voice broke. “She’s lying in that hospital bed like a corpse. The doctors say even if she wakes up, there might be brain damage. Permanent damage. Because Claire Vanderbilt wanted to hurt me through her.”

“So what are you going to do about it?” The question was sharp, accusatory. “Are you going to protect your fiancée? Make excuses for her like you always do?”

“I’ve already dealt with it.”

“What does that mean?”

“It means Claire is being moved to a secure location as we speak. No phone, no internet, no contact with anyone. She’ll stay there until–until she understands the severity of what she’s done.”

A long, dangerous silence.

“So you’re locking her up.” Sophia’s voice was flat. “In some luxury estate, I’m guessing. With round–the–clock staff and gourmet meals and all the comforts of home.”

‘She’s being confined, not coddled.”

“And then what? You lecture her? Tell her she’s been a bad girl and needs to think about what she’s done?” Bitterness dripped from every word. “Jesus Christ,

Lucas. She tried to murder my mother. And you’re treating her like a misbehaving child.”

“I don’t think she meant for it to go this far. The words came out defensive. “She was jealous, reckless–but i don’t believe she actually wanted your mother to die. It was a mistake, Sophia. A terrible, unforgivable mistake, but-”