Chapter 9: The Final Gambit
Time slowed.
Kimberly’s fingers twitched toward the gun at her feet—but it wasn’t the weapon she needed. It was the truth.
Her gaze locked onto Lucian—Alexander—his stormy eyes filled with a decade of vengeance. “You knew my mother,” she whispered. Not a question. A verdict.
A muscle feathered in his jaw. “She was going to expose Declan’s fraud. He hired me to stop her.” His voice cracked. “I didn’t know it would cost her life.”
Declan laughed, pressing the gun harder into Charles’ temple. “Such regret. But here’s the fun part—you still took the money, Alex.”
Kimberly’s heart pounded. Lies. They had to be lies. Yet Lucian didn’t deny it.
Charles suddenly moved—elbowing Declan in the ribs and lunging toward Kimberly. “The files—!”
BANG.
Charles crumpled, blood blooming across his chest.
Declan sneered. “Oops.”
Valerie cackled from the ground, her voice singsong. “Now everyone’s dirty.”
Kimberly saw red.
She snatched the gun—and fired three shots.
The Aftermath
- Declan – Bullet through the right hand. “That’s for my mother.”
- Valerie – Bullet through the left shoulder. “That’s for my child.”
- The dock’s floodlight – Plunging them into darkness.
Lucian’s arm wrapped around her waist, his breath hot against her ear. “The port—now.”
As sirens wailed in the distance, they vanished into the shadows—leaving behind the wreckage of Declan’s empire, Valerie’s screams, and one burning question:
Who is Lucian Howard?