Chapter 10 - The False Victory
The discovery of the ledger was the key that unlocked Ronan’s entire arsenal.
Within minutes, he deciphered the codes hidden inside the black leather pages.
He dispatched his elite strike team to the specific docks where the Volkovs were holding Poppy.
Sadie paced the bunker floor for what felt like centuries, her fingernails biting into her palms.
Finally, the radio crackled with the heavy, breathless voice of Silas, the scarred enforcer.
The warehouse had been breached, the Volkovs were dead, and the package was secure.
An hour later, the massive iron doors of Raven Hill swung open.
Silas walked in, carrying a sleeping Poppy in his massive, blood-stained arms.
Sadie collapsed to the floor, pulling her daughter into a desperate, crushing embrace.
Poppy was unharmed, having slept through the entire raid, completely unaware of the carnage that had surrounded her.
Ronan stood by the fireplace, watching the reunion with a quiet, unreadable expression.
He told Sadie that she and her daughter would stay at the estate permanently under his absolute protection.
The immediate nightmare was finally over, and Sadie felt a profound wave of relief wash over her exhausted body.
She carried Poppy up the grand staircase to a lavish, secure guest bedroom, tucking her under soft, expensive covers.
Sadie sat on the edge of the bed, believing they had finally survived the storm.
The heavy door creaked open, and Eleanor rolled her wheelchair quietly into the dim room.
The matriarch looked at the sleeping child, then turned her sad, smoke-colored eyes toward Sadie.
Eleanor raised her trembling hands and began to sign a frantic, terrifying message.
She signed that Liam’s ledger hadn't exposed the Volkovs at all.
The old woman’s fingers moved with agonizing clarity.
She signed that the Falcon assassin had never been a stranger hired by rivals.
Eleanor pointed a shaking finger directly at the floorboards, gesturing toward the study directly beneath them.
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The man who had ordered Liam’s murder was Ronan Cain himself.
And Sadie had just delivered her only child directly into the custody of the devil.
