Chapter 20: Blood for Blood

The sound of the gunshot seemed to echo in the study forever, ringing in her ears like a funeral bell.

For a terrifying, suspended second, time completely froze. The smell of burnt gunpowder filled the air, acrid and suffocating, masking the faint scent of her father's

Chapter 21: Vigil in the Dark

The rhythmic, sterile beep of the heart monitor was the only sound tethering her to reality.

She sat in the uncomfortable plastic chair beside Silas’s hospital bed, her fingers wrapped tightly around his motionless, heavy hand. It had been fourteen hours since the me

Chapter 22: A New Empire

*Six months later.*

The morning sunlight filtering through the sheer silk curtains of the master bedroom was warm, wrapping around her bare shoulders like a comforting blanket. It was a stark contrast to the cold, windowless cell that had defined her existence for so long.