Chapter 10 - THE MAN WHO FINALLY CHOSEJulian moved faster than anyone expected.
He knocked Haines's weapon away and drove him into the wall.
The room erupted again.
Agents shouted.
Gunfire cracked.
My father pulled me behind the servers.
“Stay down!”
Julian fought like a man with nothing left to lose.
Haines screamed.
“You idiot!”
“You lied to me!”
“I owned you!”
“You used my wife!”
“She was always expendable!”
Julian froze.
That sentence changed him.
I saw it.
Whatever loyalty remained inside him disappeared.
He turned the weapon toward Haines.
“Get on your knees.”
Haines laughed.
“You think this changes anything?”
Julian's hand shook.
“You promised my family would survive.”
“They will.”
“Not if you kill us all.”
Haines smiled.
“You already killed your wife.”
Julian looked at me.
I could see regret in his eyes.
But regret was useless now.
He lowered the weapon.
An agent tackled Haines.
The room exploded into movement.
Within seconds, Haines was handcuffed.
Several Blackthorne men were arrested.
Others fled into the tunnel.
Diana stood over Julian.
“Drop the weapon.”
He obeyed.
Two agents restrained him.
As they pulled his arms behind his back, he looked at me.
“Audrey.”
I said nothing.
“I’m sorry.”
“You should be.”
“I never stopped loving you.”
I felt my throat tighten.
“Love isn't what you gave me.”
He lowered his head.
I turned away.
The next hours were spent securing evidence.
The servers contained years of blackmail files.
Financial records.
Judge payments.
Political donations.
Threat assessments.
Hidden identities.
Blackthorne wasn't one company.
It was an invisible economy.
A network of people who had spent years buying silence.
By morning, thirty-seven arrests had been made.
But one person was still missing.
Seraphina.
Diana told me the news.
“She escaped the estate.”
“Where?”
“We don't know.”
I stared at the NICU.
My son was still fighting.
I wanted this nightmare to end.
It didn't.
At 6:21 a.m., my phone vibrated.
A message.
YOU THINK THIS IS OVER.
Then a photograph.
Seraphina.
Standing outside the hospital.
She was smiling.
Behind her was the NICU window.
My blood froze.
Diana took the phone.
“We're moving the baby.”
“Now.”
A nurse rushed toward us.
“Mrs. Sterling!”
“What?”
“There’s an emergency.”
My heart stopped.
“What happened?”
The nurse looked terrified.
“Your son's medical file has been accessed.”
“By whom?”
“We don't know.”
Diana immediately called security.
But then the nurse whispered:
“Someone changed his identity in the hospital database.”
I stared at her.
“To what?”
She swallowed.
“To Julian Sterling's full legal name.”
Silence.
“Why?”
The nurse looked at me.
“Because according to the database…”
She hesitated.
“…your son is no longer listed as the beneficiary.”
I felt sick.
“What is he listed as?”
May you like
The nurse's face went pale.
“Primary defendant.”
