Chapter 7

The warehouse stood dark and silent at the water’s edge.

Rain fell softly. The air smelled of salt and rust.

Vincent and I walked in through the broken main door. Guards waited outside, positioned everywhere.

Inside, shadows stretched long across cracked concrete.

Marcus stood in the center. Near a single lantern.

Older than I expected. Gray hair, gaunt face. Eyes burning with a strange, feverish light.

He looked at me. Then at Vincent.

“At last,” he said. “The family reunited.”

Vincent stepped in front of me slightly.

“Speak,” he said. “Say what you came to say.”

Marcus laughed. A harsh, empty sound.

“Twenty-three years,” he said. “Twenty-three years I watched you build your empire. Mourn your wife. Search endlessly for the daughter I gave away.”

“Why?” Vincent demanded. “We were friends. I trusted you.”

“Because you chose her!” Marcus shouted. “You chose Elena. You chose love over power. And you left me behind!”

He breathed hard. His eyes locked on mine.

“I sold you to see him break,” he said to me. “I wanted him to know what it felt like to lose everything. Just as I did.”

I stepped out from behind Vincent.

“You stole me,” I said. “You sold me to strangers. You destroyed my life. And all because you were jealous?”

Marcus blinked. Seemed taken aback.

“You’re not what I expected,” he said.

“I’m not the helpless girl you imagined,” I said. “I’m not the girl who let people hurt her and said nothing. That girl is gone.”

I looked him in the eye.

“You thought you were punishing him. But you hurt me. You took me from my family. You made me suffer for something I never did.”

Marcus faltered.

“I… I didn’t think—”

“No,” I said. “You didn’t. You only thought about your own bitterness. Your own anger. And look where it got you. Alone. Hiding in the dark. Still angry. Still empty.”

Vincent spoke.

“Emily is right. You wasted your life, Marcus. And for what? A grudge? A fantasy?”

Marcus looked at us both. Something in his face crumbled.

“He took everything from me,” he whispered.

“No,” I said. “You gave it away. All of it. And now you have nothing.”

Silence stretched between us.

Sirens wailed in the distance. Growing closer.

Marcus closed his eyes.

“I called them,” he said quietly. “I knew you’d come. I knew it would end this way.”

He looked at Vincent.

“I’m sorry. For Elena. For the girl. For everything.”

Red and blue lights flashed through the broken walls.

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Vincent reached out and took my hand.

“It’s over,” he said. “It’s finally over.”