Chapter 12 - The Choice
Julian had disappeared from the medical room.
No blood trail.
No forced exit.
Only a note on the bed.
Cassian read it.
I already died once. Let me decide what I do with the second life.
Cassian folded the paper.
Elena watched him.
“You’ll look for him.”
“Yes.”
“To punish him?”
Cassian hesitated.
“I don’t know.”
That answer told Elena more than any speech could.
By sunrise, Blackwood Manor no longer resembled a fortress.
Firefighters moved through the western wing.
Police marked evidence.
Federal agents carried boxes from Cassian’s office.
His empire was coming apart piece by piece.
Marcus stood beside him.
“What now?”
Cassian looked at the man who had been loyal to him for fifteen years.
“You leave.”
Marcus blinked.
“What?”
“Take your family somewhere safe.”
“You firing me?”
“I’m giving you a chance.”
Marcus shook his head.
“I chose this life.”
“So did I.”
Cassian looked toward the ambulances.
“Maybe choice is something we get to make more than once.”
Marcus stared for a long moment.
Then he offered his hand.
Cassian pulled him into a brief hug.
Neither man mentioned it afterward.
Elena found Maria sitting beneath a blanket near an ambulance.
Maria looked at her and smiled.
“Your hair is down.”
Elena touched it.
“I noticed.”
“You look better.”
“I nearly got killed.”
“Yes.”
Maria nodded.
“Still better.”
Elena laughed.
A real laugh.
Cassian heard it.
He realized he had never heard Elena laugh before.
Federal agents approached him.
“Mr. Thorne.”
Cassian turned.
“We need to speak about the contents of the ledger and your organization.”
Cassian looked at Elena.
She understood.
This might be the last time they saw each other outside a courtroom.
He walked toward her.
“So.”
“So.”
“You lied about your name.”
“Yes.”
“Your employment history.”
“Yes.”
“Your cleaning references.”
“Yes.”
He frowned.
“Was the Turkish coffee real?”
Elena smiled.
“That part was real.”
“Good.”
He looked at her for another moment.
“I suppose this is goodbye.”
Elena’s smile faded.
“Maybe.”
Cassian nodded.
He followed the agents.
Then one of them suddenly stopped.
His phone buzzed.
He read something.
His face turned pale.
He looked at Elena.
“Ms. Rostova.”
She approached.
“What?”
The agent held out his phone.
A secure government server had received thousands of files overnight.
The ledger.
Photographs.
Bank transfers.
Names.
Evidence.
Someone had already uploaded everything.
At the bottom was a single message.
FOR MY BROTHER. DO BETTER THAN FATHER DID. — J
Cassian stared.
Julian.
Elena looked toward the woods.
Somewhere out there, a dead man had finally chosen a side.
But the file contained one more surprise.
A name Elena had never expected to see.
May you like
Her own.
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