Chapter 16 - The Last BloodlineMy mother pointed the gun at me.
“You were always the most disappointing of my children.”
“You killed Adrian.”
“He was weak.”
“He saved me.”
“He was useful.”
I stepped closer.
“You're the Cardinal.”
She smiled.
“No.”
“Then who?”
She lowered the weapon.
“You are asking the wrong question.”
“What question should I ask?”
“Who benefits?”
The floor shook.
The church doors opened.
Hundreds of people entered.
Politicians.
Bankers.
Generals.
Judges.
Executives.
The real bloodline.
The people who had financed Aurelian for generations.
My mother looked at them.
“Your father built the machine.”
She pointed at me.
“You inherited it.”
Then at Lily, who had secretly followed me into Prague.
“She will end it.”
Lily stepped beside me.
My mother stared at her.
“Do you know what you are?”
Lily shook her head.
“You're the final heir.”
Lily looked at me.
“Daddy?”
I took her hand.
“You don't owe them anything.”
My mother laughed.
“Wrong.”
She raised her gun.
“She owes the world.”
I stepped in front of Lily.
“No.”
My mother fired.
The bullet stopped.
Not because of armor.
Because Thorne had stepped between us.
He collapsed.
“Thorne!”
He looked at me.
“Finish it.”
I caught him.
“No.”
He smiled.
“You promised.”
Then he died.
Something inside me broke.
I turned toward my mother.
But Lily held my hand.
“Daddy.”
I looked down.
“Don't become bad.”
Those four words saved my soul.
I lowered my weapon.
Instead of killing my mother, I activated the final command.
The entire bloodline database was released.
Names.
Accounts.
Crimes.
Every secret.
Broadcast globally.
There was no throne anymore.
No hidden empire.
No bloodline.
No Architect.
Only truth.
My mother stared at the screens.
“You've destroyed us.”
I shook my head.
“No.”
I looked at Lily.
“She did that.”
The world changed that night.
But there was one problem left.
Caroline.
She had disappeared.
And when I returned to New York, I found a letter waiting.
Julian,
There is one final lie.
You think the war is over.
It isn't.
Because Lily isn't the only one they made.
May you like
Love,
Caroline
