Chapter 19 - The KingNobody spoke.
The title on the screen felt absurd.
King.
I wasn't a king.
I was the boy who cleaned the yard.
The boy who begged for permission to leave the house.
The boy who had his jaw broken for asking a question.
Now the world's most powerful criminal network was offering me control.
Kyle stared at the terminal.
“You can actually do it.”
I looked at him.
“Why are you helping me?”
He looked down.
“Because I finally realized something.”
“What?”
“I spent my whole life trying to become you.”
I frowned.
“You had everything.”
“No.”
He shook his head.
“I had everything they gave me.”
“You mean the money.”
“I mean the lies.”
He sat down.
“I thought they loved me because I was the favorite.”
He laughed bitterly.
“They only loved the version of me they could control.”
I understood.
For the first time, Kyle looked like my brother.
Not my enemy.
My mother stepped forward.
“I know who your biological mother is.”
I stared.
“No.”
“She is your father's former partner.”
“What?”
She nodded.
“She helped build the original network.”
“And Adrian?”
“Adrian tried to destroy it.”
“Why didn't he tell me?”
“Because he was afraid you'd become like them.”
I looked at the terminal.
Maybe he was right.
The countdown continued.
Two days.
Twenty-three hours.
The Meridian Circle had already begun collapsing.
Markets fell.
Accounts froze.
Officials resigned.
News channels began reporting anonymous leaks.
The Black Ledger was spreading.
Someone was uploading it.
Every thirty minutes, another batch became public.
Then the final upload appeared.
A list of people scheduled to die.
Twenty-seven names.
Kyle was number eleven.
Emily was number nineteen.
My mother was number twenty.
I was number twenty-seven.
I stared at the screen.
They weren't waiting three days.
They were hunting us now.
We needed somewhere safe.
Adrian suddenly appeared on the church entrance.
Alive.
But alone.
He looked at me.
“You found her.”
I knew exactly who he meant.
“My mother.”
He nodded.
Then he looked at the ledger.
“Don't give it to them.”
“I won't.”
“They'll kill everyone you love.”
“They already tried.”
He stepped closer.
“Then you know what comes next.”
“What?”
“You become worse than them.”
I looked at him.
“No.”
He frowned.
“I become better.”
I placed my hand on the terminal.
CHOOSE CONTROL PROTOCOL.
I selected:
DESTROY.
The church shook.
Every screen went black.
Then alarms erupted.
The network began collapsing.
But a final warning appeared.
DESTRUCTION REQUIRES SACRIFICE.
I read it twice.
“What sacrifice?”
The terminal displayed one name.
SUBJECT 47.
Kyle shouted:
“No!”
My mother grabbed my arm.
“Don't.”
Adrian looked at me.
“You knew this would happen.”
“No.”
He stared at me.
“Then why did you choose it?”
I smiled.
Because for twenty years they had decided what I was allowed to be.
Not anymore.
I pressed Confirm.
The screen turned red.
SACRIFICE ACCEPTED.
Then every door in the church locked.
And the countdown began.
Ten seconds.
Nine.
Eight.
Seven.
I looked at my family.
Six.
Five.
Four.
The lights went out.
Three.
Two.
One.
May you like
Blackness.
Then my heartbeat stopped.
