Chapter 10 - The False Victory
The nightmare was finally over.
I sat on a plush velvet sofa in the mansion's main living room, wrapped in a thick thermal blanket.
The estate had been completely secured by Adrian's heavily armed loyalists.
Adrian was sitting in a medical chair nearby, grimacing as an underground doctor stitched up his gunshot wound.
He looked pale but incredibly alive, his authoritative presence filling the ruined room.
He ordered Silas to be dragged down to the basement holding cells to await syndicate justice.
Adrian looked over at me and nodded with profound, genuine respect.
He reached into his jacket pocket and handed me a sleek, silver tablet.
I looked at the screen and saw a live video feed from the hospital.
My little sister was sitting up in her bed, smiling and eating a cup of green gelatin.
The lead surgeon was standing next to her, giving a thumbs up to the camera.
The surgery was a complete success, and she was entirely safe.
Tears of pure joy and absolute relief streamed down my dirty, soot-covered face.
The four boys rushed over to the sofa and tackled me into a massive, collective hug.
Evan buried his face in my shoulder and thanked me for saving their lives.
I hugged them back tightly, feeling an overwhelming sense of victory and peace.
I stood up to get Adrian a glass of water from his private study across the hall.
I walked into the dark, quiet room and noticed a strange glowing light coming from a locked desk drawer.
A very faint, muffled ringing sound was coming from inside the heavy mahogany desk.
I found a small silver key resting on the blotter and unlocked the drawer out of pure curiosity.
Inside sat a pristine, older model cell phone that was actively ringing.
I picked it up and hesitantly pressed the green answer button.
"Hello?" I whispered into the receiver.
"Thank you so much for gathering my husband and my sons into one convenient room, Nia," a woman's voice replied cheerfully.
I froze completely, recognizing the voice from the home videos I had seen in the boys' bedroom.
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It was Adrian's wife, the woman who was supposedly dead for the last four years.
"The explosive charges beneath the living room floorboards will detonate in exactly thirty seconds," she said sweetly before hanging up.
