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Chapter 73: Preparing for War
"Full lockdown," Silas said, standing before the assembled group in the estate's main hall that evening, every trace of softness from the previous night's revelation replaced now by the cold, commanding presence of a man preparing for the most dangerous confrontation of his entire reckoning. "Nobody leaves these grounds without explicit clearance. Nobody arrives without being thoroughly vetted first. Edmund Holloway doesn't fight with soldiers, which means our usual defenses aren't enough anymore."Marielle sat close beside him, one hand resting protectively over her still flat stomach, listening with the focused attention of someone determined to understand every piece of the danger now surrounding her and the child she carried."What exactly are we preparing for," Augustine asked from his seat near the window, voice measured despite the tension gripping the room."Information warfare," Silas said. "According to the warning I received, Edmund has spent decades gathering leverage on e
Chapter 72: A Warning
"Who sent that," Reyes said, reading the message over Silas's shoulder as they climbed back into the car, Priscilla's cottage disappearing behind them in the rearview mirror."I don't know," Silas said, already typing back, thumb moving fast across the screen.Who is this.The reply came within seconds, as though whoever was on the other end had been waiting.Someone who understands exactly what happens if you corner a man like Edmund Holloway before you're ready for what he'll do in response. Walk away, Silas. For once in this reckoning, walk away before it costs you something you can't get back.Silas's jaw tightened, old suspicion flaring hot and immediate. "Isabelle.""Her number's changed before," Reyes said grimly, starting the engine. "Could easily be her again.""Or it's someone new," Silas said, staring at the screen. "Someone else who's been watching this whole reckoning from the shadows, same as she has."He typed back quickly.Edmund was there the night my father died. The
Chapter 71: The Woman in the Coastal Town
"You found me," Priscilla Vance said, standing in the doorway of a modest seaside cottage, studying Silas and Reyes with the wary, measured calm of a woman who had spent years expecting exactly this kind of visit. "I confess, I'd hoped Edmund's reach had finally grown too thin to track me down again.""We're not here on Edmund's behalf," Silas said, standing carefully non threatening in her doorway, Reyes a step behind him. "I'm Silas Cross. Jonathan Cross's son."Something shifted immediately behind Priscilla's eyes, recognition and old grief flickering across her weathered features. "Jonathan's son. I heard rumors you'd returned to this world, taking down the Assembly one member at a time. I didn't expect you'd eventually need my help to find Edmund among them.""Then you'll help us," Reyes said.Priscilla studied them both a long moment before stepping back, gesturing them inside with visible reluctance. "Come in. Quickly. I don't like conversations like this happening where neighb
Chapter 70: A Hard Conversation
"Say that again," Reyes said, voice low, meeting Marco in the dim hallway outside the estate's east wing, both men speaking in careful whispers despite the late hour. "She said babies aren't always what.""She didn't finish it," Marco said, arms crossed tight, something grim replacing his usual ease entirely. "Stopped herself right before, looked like she scared herself with whatever she was about to say. Reyes, I don't like what that sounded like. Not even a little."Reyes exhaled slowly, dragging a hand down his face. "Twenty years of unspoken feelings, now suddenly facing permanent proof that Silas has moved on completely. That's not a woman thinking clearly anymore.""You think she'd actually do something," Marco said. "To Marielle. To the baby.""I think," Reyes said carefully, "that fear and jealousy together make people do things they'd never otherwise consider. I don't know Elena well enough yet to say for certain what she's capable of. But I'd rather assume the worst and be w
Chapter 69: Cracks in the Circle
Elena stood alone near the kitchen window long after the others had retreated to their rooms, staring out into the dark grounds of the estate, a glass of wine untouched in her trembling hand.A father.Silas Cross, the boy who used to fall asleep against her shoulder during thunderstorms, who used to beg her for one more story before his mother finally insisted on bedtime, was going to be a father.With her.Not with Elena, who had spent twenty years quietly nursing a devotion she'd never once dared speak aloud, who had told herself, over and over, that patience would eventually be rewarded, that Silas simply needed time to remember what they'd once meant to each other before any of this reckoning began.She set the wine glass down with more force than she intended, the sharp clink echoing in the quiet kitchen."Rough night," Marco said, appearing in the doorway with the easy, unbothered manner that seemed to follow him everywhere, though his eyes were sharper than usual tonight, watc
Chapter 68: What the Captives Knew
"Start talking," Silas said, voice flat and merciless, circling the chair where the measured voiced man sat bound, the estate's basement cold and bare around them. "Everything Edmund told you about Marielle. Every detail. I'm done being patient tonight."The man's composure, so confident back at the manor, had entirely collapsed into raw fear now, sweat beading along his hairline despite the chill of the room. "He only wanted confirmation. That's all I know, I swear it. Once we verified she was actually pregnant, we were supposed to report back and wait for further instruction.""Further instruction toward what," Reyes pressed, standing just behind Silas's shoulder, arms crossed."I don't know," the man said quickly. "Edmund doesn't explain his reasoning. He gives orders. We follow them. That's how it's worked for as long as I've been with him.""How long is that," Silas asked."Eight years," the man admitted. "Long enough to know better than to ask questions he doesn't want asked."S
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