ŕšŕ¸ŕšŕ¸˛ŕ¸Şŕ¸šŕšŕ¸Łŕ¸°ŕ¸ŕ¸CHAPTER 166 â She Walked Away Free The morning after everything ended arrived quietly, as if the world itself was careful not to startle her.Melissa woke to pale sunlight slipping through sheer curtains, the sound of water moving somewhere beyond the windows. For a few seconds, she didnât remember where she wasâor why her body felt both exhausted and strangely light.Then memory returned, not like a knife, but like a closed door.Castor was gone.Gone for good.She sat up slowly, half-expecting the familiar tightness in her chest, the reflexive fear that had lived with her for so long. It didnât come. There was grief, yes, and something like mourning for the years she had lostâbut the fear was absent.That was new.Tyrone stood on the balcony, phone pressed to his ear, his voice low and controlled as he finished a call. When he turned and saw her awake, his expression softened in a way that still surprised her sometimes.âYou okay?â he asked.Melissa nodded. âI think⌠I really am.â
CHAPTER 165 â The Choice That Ends a MonsterThe city didnât sleep that night.Sirens stitched the dark together, blue and red lights washing over glass towers and silent streets. News vans crowded outside the evacuated venue, reporters shouting questions no one was ready to answer. Inside a black SUV moving steadily through the chaos, Melissa sat perfectly still, her hands folded in her lap as if calm were something she could summon by force.Tyrone watched her from the corner of his eye.She hadnât spoken since they left.âMelissa,â he said softly.âIâm thinking,â she replied.That worried him more than panic would have.The safe house was a steel-and-concrete fortress overlooking the river, guarded, isolated, designed to disappear people when the world became too loud. The moment the door shut behind them, the quiet rushed in again thick, pressing, full of unfinished business.Melissa finally exhaled.âHe planned that,â she said. âNot to kill anyone. Not yet.âTyrone loosened his t
CHAPTER 164 â A Ring, a Lie, and the Man Who Refused to DieThe first thing Melissa noticed was the silence.Not the peaceful kindâthe kind that settled after a stormâbut the heavy, unnatural quiet that pressed against her ears as Tyrone drove faster than he should have through the city streets. The river lights disappeared behind them, swallowed by concrete and steel, and the engagement ring on her finger felt suddenly heavier, like it carried a warning.She stared at her phone again.No new messages.That frightened her more than anything.âCastor is supposed to be in maximum security,â Tyrone said, voice controlled but tight. âNo access to phones. No outside contact.ââThen how did he text me?â Melissa whispered.Tyrone didnât answer immediately. His jaw clenched, knuckles whitening on the steering wheel.âThereâs only one explanation,â he said finally. âHeâs not where we think he is.âHer chest tightened. âYouâre saying he escaped.ââIâm saying,â Tyrone corrected, âthat someone he
CHAPTER 163 â The Man Who StayedMelissa Williams had learned the sound of abandonment.It came quietlyâthrough unanswered calls, through doors that closed without explanation, through promises that dissolved the moment life became inconvenient. It wasnât loud. It didnât scream. It simply⌠left.So when Tyrone stayed, it confused her.He stayed when she woke up shaking in the middle of the night, drenched in sweat, Castorâs face still clawing at her thoughts. He stayed when the court dates dragged on longer than promised. He stayed when the tabloids dragged her name through mud they never bothered to clean off.He stayed even when she didnât ask him to.That morning, Melissa stood by the floor-to-ceiling window in her apartment, staring at the city she had rebuilt herself in. The sun was pale, hesitant like it wasnât sure she deserved warmth yet.Behind her, Tyrone adjusted his cufflinks calmly.âYou didnât sleep,â he said.It wasnât a question.Melissa gave a faint smile. âI did. Jus
CHAPTER 162â Power, Not RescueThree years later.Melissa no longer remembered what fear felt like.Not because she had never known it but because it no longer ruled her decisions.From the glass wall of her office, the city spread beneath her like something conquered, not owned. Traffic moved in disciplined chaos. Towers rose and fell in steel confidence. Somewhere down there were people who still whispered her name with curiosity, envy, admiration.She had stopped caring which one it was.âFive minutes, Ms. Williams,â her assistant said softly.Melissa nodded without turning. âLet them in when the board is seated.âWhen the door closed, she adjusted her cuffs and looked at her reflection faintly mirrored in the glass. The woman staring back was composed, sharp-eyed, unapologetic.This was not the woman Castor had tried to break.This was not the woman Jaden had died protecting.This was the woman who had taken loss and forged authority from it.The board meeting went exactly as expe
CHAPTER 161â The Woman Who Stayed Standing The rain started just as the casket was lowered. Not dramatic. Not sudden. Just a steady drizzle that soaked into black coats and umbrellas, as if the sky itself had decided mourning should not be dry or clean. Melissa stood at the front. No umbrella. No one offered her one. She didnât look fragile enough to need it. The cemetery was crowded press, executives, politicians, people who had only known Jaden as a name attached to wealth and influence. They whispered in clusters, glancing at her when they thought she wouldnât notice. Thatâs her. The woman he died protecting. The reason Castor lost everything. Melissa didnât turn. She kept her eyes on the casket, her hands folded loosely in front of her, rain tracing down her hair, her face, her neck. She felt it. Every drop. She welcomed it. The priest spoke. Words about legacy. About sacrifice. About a man who had tried to outrun his past and failed but not before saving someone els







