Chapter 11 - The HeirSadie stepped backward.
“No.”
Her mother smiled sadly.
“Yes.”
“I don't understand.”
“You were always the heir.”
“To what?”
“The organization.”
Callum moved between them.
“Enough.”
Her mother looked at him.
“Still playing knight?”
“I've killed better people than you.”
“You've killed worse.”
Callum's jaw tightened.
Sadie looked at her mother.
“Why would Emma die for me?”
“Because she knew the truth.”
“What truth?”
“That the ledger was never about money.”
Her mother touched Sadie's cheek.
“It was about inheritance.”
Sadie pulled away.
“I don't want it.”
“You don't get to choose.”
Callum stepped closer.
“She does.”
Her mother smiled.
“You always were sentimental.”
Callum raised the gun.
“If you touch her…”
“You will shoot me?”
“Yes.”
Her mother sighed.
“Then shoot.”
Callum's finger tightened.
Sadie grabbed his wrist.
“No.”
“Sadie.”
“I want answers.”
Her mother nodded.
“Good.”
She walked to a table.
“There are three rules of Aurelia.”
Sadie waited.
“Never reveal the true ledger.”
Another finger rose.
“Never trust the Russo family.”
Another.
“And never allow the heir to know she is the heir.”
Sadie stared.
“When did you decide?”
“When you were born.”
“My father knew?”
“Yes.”
“Emma?”
“Yes.”
“Callum?”
“No.”
Callum looked at her.
“That part was deliberate.”
Her mother smiled.
“You needed someone who would protect you without knowing why.”
Sadie slowly understood.
“You hired him.”
“No.”
She smiled.
“He found you.”
Callum stared.
“You planned the entire thing.”
“Almost.”
“What changed?”
Her mother looked at Sadie.
“Emma.”
Sadie's eyes filled.
“She tried to expose you.”
“No.”
Her mother shook her head.
“Emma tried to save you from becoming me.”
Sadie swallowed.
“Then why did she die?”
“Because she failed.”
A sound came from the corridor.
Footsteps.
Her mother looked toward the door.
“Too late.”
The door burst open.
Armed men entered.
Callum fired.
The room exploded into gunfire.
Sadie dropped behind the table.
Her mother moved with frightening calm.
She pulled a hidden pistol from beneath her coat.
Three shots.
Two attackers fell.
Callum looked at her.
“You trained her.”
She smiled.
“I trained myself.”
The gunfight ended in seconds.
One man remained alive.
Callum dragged him forward.
“Who sent you?”
The man laughed.
“Aurelia.”
Sadie looked at her mother.
“That is your name.”
“No.”
Her mother shook her head.
“That was my predecessor's.”
“Then what is yours?”
She looked at Sadie.
“Evelyn.”
The surviving attacker began laughing.
“She's lying.”
Callum grabbed him.
“Enough.”
The man whispered:
“Ask her about October Fourteenth.”
Sadie froze.
That date again.
Emma's death.
Her father.
The ledger.
Everything.
“What happened October Fourteenth?”
Her mother looked at Callum.
Then at Sadie.
“Your sister was supposed to kill me.”
Sadie's blood turned cold.
“She didn't.”
“No.”
Her mother smiled faintly.
“She chose you instead.”
The surviving attacker reached for a hidden weapon.
Callum shot him.
Silence.
Sadie turned toward her mother.
“You are coming with me.”
“No.”
“Why?”
“Because I am not the danger.”
She walked toward the door.
“The danger is the person who taught Emma how to betray us.”
“Who?”
Her mother stopped.
“Your father.”
Sadie stared.
“My father is alive.”
“Yes.”
“Where?”
May you like
Her mother's answer was almost a whisper.
“Inside Callum's organization.”
