Chapter 19 - The Lighthouse Confrontation
The coastal storm had finally broken over the ocean, lashing the rocky cliffs with heavy rain and violent winds.
We approached the abandoned lighthouse under the cover of absolute darkness, moving silently through the tall, wet grass.
Victoria’s remaining mercenaries were spread thin, arrogant in their belief that we were already dead beneath the rubble of the mansion.
Marcus took out the two perimeter guards with silenced, lethal precision, clearing our path to the heavy iron door of the tower.
I left Emma safely hidden in the thick brush with Thomas, refusing to let my daughter anywhere near the monster inside.
I pushed the heavy iron door open, stepping into the circular, stone room at the base of the lighthouse.
Victoria was standing by a massive, shattered window, looking out over the raging ocean with her hands clasped elegantly behind her back.
She didn't even turn around when I leveled the heavy tactical pistol directly at the center of her back.
"You have Arthur's eyes, but you definitely have my temper," Victoria said, her voice echoing smoothly over the crashing waves.
"Turn around and face me," I demanded, my finger resting dangerously tight against the trigger.
She turned slowly, revealing a face so similar to mine that it felt like looking into a distorted, aging mirror.
"I didn't want this war, Sarah," Victoria lied smoothly, her eyes reflecting the madness Arthur had warned me about.
"I just wanted my family back, I wanted to hold the daughter that monster stole from me."
"You wanted to drown me, you psychotic bitch," I spat back, refusing to let her gaslight me with her fabricated victimhood.
Victoria's elegant facade instantly cracked, replaced by a terrifying, feral snarl that revealed the true depth of her insanity.
"You were tainted by his blood! You had to be purified!" she screamed, lunging forward with a hidden combat knife drawn from her coat.
She moved with an unnatural, terrifying speed, closing the distance between us in a fraction of a second.
I didn't hesitate, I didn't flinch, and I didn't offer a single word of warning.
I pulled the trigger twice, the deafening gunshots illuminating the dark stone room with bright, violent flashes.
Both rounds struck Victoria squarely in the chest, stopping her lethal charge dead in its tracks.
The silver combat knife clattered against the stone floor, echoing loudly in the sudden, shocking silence.
Victoria stumbled backward, clutching her bleeding chest, her eyes wide with absolute disbelief.
May you like
She looked at me one last time, a twisted, tragic smile forming on her pale lips before she collapsed backward out of the shattered window.
Her body disappeared into the raging black ocean below, swallowed completely by the relentless, crashing waves.
