Elara's POV
"They're already inside," Nate says through my earpiece. "Three armed men on the roof, two at each exit, and Victoria's got the main warehouse rigged with enough explosives to level the entire block."
It's 11:47 PM. Thirteen minutes until we walk into Victoria's trap.
Cain and I sit in the car two blocks from the warehouse, bulletproof vests under our clothes, guns loaded, FBI on standby three blocks away—far enough that Victoria won't detect them, close enough to respond when everything goes wrong.
Because it will go wrong. That's the plan.
"Lily and Sage?" I ask.
"Still alive. Thermal imaging shows two heat signatures in the center of the warehouse, restrained but moving. Victoria's keeping them alive as bait."
"And Richard?" Cain's voice is ice.
"With Victoria. Armed. He's really chosen his side."
My father. The man who gave me life but never gave me love. Now he's helping the woman who murdered my mother.
Some betrayals are so deep they stop hurting and just become fact.
"Eleven fifty," Cain says, checking his watch. "We move in three minutes."
I look at him—this man who started as a stranger on a bridge and became everything. His gray eyes meet mine, and I see the same fear I feel.
We might not survive this.
"Hey," I say softly. "Whatever happens—"
"We survive." He grabs my hand. "Together. No heroic sacrifices. No last-minute trades. We all walk out."
"Promise?"
"Promise."
He's lying. I'm lying. We both know if it comes down to it, we'd die for each other in a heartbeat.
But we don't say that out loud.
"Midnight," Nate says. "Go time."
We get out of the car.
The warehouse looms ahead—abandoned, dark, perfect for murder.
Cain takes my hand. "Ready for war?"
I squeeze back. "I was born ready."
We walk toward the main entrance.
The door's unlocked. Of course it is. Victoria wants us inside.
The warehouse is massive—concrete floors, metal beams, shadows everywhere. And in the center, under a single spotlight—
Lily and Sage. Tied to chairs. Gagged. Terror in their eyes.
Victoria stands behind them, gun in hand. She's dressed like she's attending the opera, not committing murder. Richard lurks beside her, looking sick but holding his own weapon.
"Right on time," Victoria says. "My punctual grandson."
"Let them go," Cain says. "This is between us."
"No, darling. This is about family. Loyalty. Legacy." She presses the gun to Lily's head. "You chose that girl over your blood. Over me. Now you get to live with the consequences."
"You killed my parents," Cain says, voice shaking with rage. "You're not my family. You're a monster."
"I'm a survivor." Victoria's eyes are cold. "Your parents were weak. They wanted to give away our patent, share our discoveries with the world for pennies. I saved the Ashford legacy by removing them."
"You're insane."
"I'm practical." She looks at me. "And you, Elara. The little bastard who thinks she's an heiress. Did Richard tell you? He's testifying that your mother forged the marriage certificate. That you have no claim to anything."
I look at my father. He won't meet my eyes.
"Is that true?" I ask him. "You're going to lie about Mom?"
"I'm sorry," he whispers. "But Victoria offered me a way out. Immunity, money, a fresh start—"
"She killed Mom!" My voice cracks. "She murdered the woman you supposedly loved, and you're helping her?"
"Your mother was already dead," he says weakly. "Nothing I do now changes that."
"But it changes who you are." Tears burn my eyes. "You're choosing money over truth. Comfort over courage. Again."
"I'm choosing to survive!"
"No. You're choosing to be a coward."
Richard flinches like I hit him.
Victoria laughs. "Touching. But we're wasting time. Here's how this ends: You sign over the inheritance to Vivienne, hand over the journals, and walk away. Or everyone dies. Simple choice."
"There's a third option," Cain says.
"Oh?"
"We destroy you."
He raises his hand—a signal.
The warehouse lights explode to life.
FBI agents pour in from every entrance—twenty of them, weapons drawn, surrounding Victoria's men.
"FBI! Drop your weapons!"
Victoria's men hesitate, looking to her for orders.
"Do it," Agent Rodriguez shouts. "You're surrounded. There's no escape."
For a moment, everything freezes.
Then Victoria smiles.
"You think you won?" She pulls a detonator from her pocket. "This entire warehouse is rigged. I press this button, we all die. FBI included."
"You'd kill yourself?" Cain asks.
"I'd rather die than lose." Her finger hovers over the button. "So here's the new deal. Everyone backs off. Elara and Cain stay. We finish this as a family. Or I blow us all to hell."
The FBI agents look at Rodriguez. He curses under his breath.
"Stand down," he orders. "Everyone out. Now."
"Sir—"
"NOW!"
The agents retreat slowly, leaving us alone with Victoria again.
"Better," she says. "Now, where were we? Oh yes. Your deaths."
She points the gun at Cain.
"STOP!" Richard suddenly shouts.
Everyone freezes.
Richard is crying, his gun shaking in his hands. "I can't do this. I can't watch you kill my daughter."
"Then don't watch," Victoria says. "Look away. It'll be quick."
"No." He raises his gun—pointing it at Victoria. "It ends now. I should have stopped you years ago. When you killed Isabelle. When you threatened Eleanor. I was weak then. But not anymore."
"Richard." Victoria's voice is deadly calm. "Put the gun down."
"I'm sorry, Elara," he says, still crying. "I'm so sorry for everything. For being weak. For failing you and your mother. For letting this monster destroy our lives. But I can make it right. One bullet. One choice."
"Don't," I say. "Dad, don't—"
He pulls the trigger.
The gunshot is deafening.
But Victoria moves lightning-fast, using Lily as a shield.
The bullet hits Lily's chair, splintering wood, missing her by inches.
Victoria's gun swings toward Richard. She fires.
Richard drops, blood spreading across his chest.
"NO!" I scream.
Chaos erupts.
Cain rushes Victoria. She fires at him. Misses. He tackles her, and they crash to the ground, fighting for the gun and the detonator.
I run to Lily and Sage, cutting their ropes with the knife from my boot.
"Go!" I shout at them. "Get out!"
They run.
Behind me, Cain and Victoria struggle. The detonator flies across the floor.
I dive for it.
My fingers close around it just as Victoria breaks free from Cain, gun raised—
She shoots.
The bullet hits Cain's shoulder. He drops.
"NO!" I scream again.
Victoria turns to me, bloodied, furious. "Give me the detonator."
"Never."
"Then we all die."
She shoots at me.
I roll, the bullet missing by inches.
From the ground, Cain grabs Victoria's ankle, pulling her down.
She falls hard. The gun skitters away.
I scramble to my feet, detonator clutched tight, and run.
Behind me, I hear Victoria screaming. "It's on a timer! Even without the remote, it'll blow in sixty seconds!"
I freeze.
"LIAR!" I shout back.
"Check your phone, darling. I texted you the countdown. Fifty seconds now."
My phone buzzes.
I look.
A timer. Counting down.
0:48... 0:47... 0:46...
"Get out!" Cain yells at me from the floor, bleeding. "Elara, RUN!"
"Not without you!"
I run back, hauling him to his feet. He's heavy, bleeding, barely conscious.
We stagger toward the exit.
0:35... 0:34... 0:33...
"Leave me," Cain gasps. "Save yourself."
"Shut up. We survive together, remember?"
We're twenty feet from the door.
0:20... 0:19... 0:18...
Behind us, Victoria is screaming, trying to crawl toward the exit on a broken leg.
Richard lies motionless in a pool of blood.
Ten feet.
0:10... 0:09... 0:08...
We crash through the door.
FBI agents grab us, pulling us away from the building.
0:05... 0:04... 0:03...
"GET DOWN!" Rodriguez yells.
Everyone hits the ground.
0:02... 0:01...
Nothing happens.
Silence.
I look up, confused.
"The bomb," I gasp. "Why didn't it—"
"Because I'm better at defusing than Victoria is at planting," Nate says, appearing from the warehouse, holding cut wires. "Found it. Disabled it. You're welcome."
Relief floods through me so intense I start laughing and crying at once.
We survived.
Cain pulls me close with his good arm. "Told you. Together."
"You got shot. Again."
"Worth it."
Behind us, FBI agents rush into the warehouse.
They emerge minutes later with Victoria in handcuffs, screaming threats.
"This isn't over!" she yells at us. "You think you won? I have lawyers, money, connections—"
"And we have evidence," Agent Rodriguez says. "Enough to put you away for life. Multiple murders, conspiracy, attempted murder of federal agents. You're done, Mrs. Ashford."
They load her into a car.
As it drives away, I see her face in the window—still smiling.
Like she knows something we don't.
Three days later, I visit my father in the hospital.
He survived the gunshot. Barely. But he's alive.
"Elara," he whispers when I enter. "You came."
"I shouldn't have."
"I know." He looks old, broken. "I don't deserve forgiveness."
"No. You don't." I sit beside his bed. "But you tried. At the end. You chose right, even if it was too late."
"Your mother would be ashamed of me."
"Yeah. She would." I take his hand anyway. "But she'd also say people can change. If they really try."
He starts crying. "I'm so sorry."
"I know."
I stay with him until he falls asleep.
Then I leave, closing the door on that chapter of my life.
That night, Cain and I stand on the Fremont Bridge at sunrise.
Where it all started.
"Think it's really over?" I ask.
"Victoria's in maximum security. Patricia, Marcus, and Vivienne are awaiting trial. Richard's cooperating with prosecutors." He pulls me close. "Yeah. It's over."
"So what now?"
"Now?" He smiles—a real smile, not his Ice King mask. "Now we live. We rebuild your gallery. We run the companies. We—"
His phone buzzes.
We both freeze.
He checks it.
His face goes white.
"What?" I demand.
He shows me.
An email. From Victoria's lawyer.
With a video attachment.
I click it with shaking hands.
Victoria's face fills the screen. She's in her cell, smiling.
"Hello, my darlings. By now you think you've won. You haven't. You see, I always have a backup plan. And mine is simple: I recorded everything. Every conversation with Patricia, Marcus, Richard—everyone. And I've arranged for those recordings to be released if I'm convicted. Every dirty secret about Seattle's elite families. Every crime. Every scandal."
She leans closer to the camera.
"Including evidence that Elara's beloved grandmother Eleanor? She wasn't the saint you think. She knew about the murders. Helped cover them up. Was complicit in everything. Your entire inheritance is built on blood money and lies."
My world tilts.
"So here's your choice," Victoria continues. "Drop the charges against me, or I destroy Eleanor's legacy. Make Elara the villain. Turn public opinion against you both. You wanted to play chess? Game's not over. Your move."
The video ends.
I stare at the phone, unable to breathe.
"She's lying," Cain says. "She has to be lying."
"Is she?" My voice shakes. "My grandmother's journals—she never mentioned that. Never denied involvement. What if she wasn't protecting me? What if she was protecting herself?"
"Elara—"
My phone buzzes.
A text from an unknown number.
"Want to know the truth about Eleanor Winters? Meet me. Alone. Pike Place Market, midnight tomorrow. Come or spend your life wondering if your grandmother was a monster. - A Friend"
I show Cain.
"It's a trap," he says immediately.
"Probably."
"You're not going."
"Yes, I am." I look at him. "Because if there's even a chance Victoria's telling the truth, I need to know. My whole life has been about discovering secrets. I can't stop now."
"Then I'm coming with you."
"The text said alone."
"I don't care."
"Cain—"
"We're partners. We survive together or not at all. Remember?"
I remember.
We stand on the bridge where we met, watching the sunrise, knowing that tomorrow night we walk into another trap.
Because the truth always costs something.
And we're willing to pay.