LOGINWe returned to Dublin on a rainy autumn day.The flight was silent. Declan piloted the private jet he keeps secret. Harvey stayed in the cabin with me, the two of us sitting in armchairs facing each other, not talking much. I looked out the window, watching the clouds pass, my hand resting on my belly. The baby moved from time to time, as if it sensed we were returning to an important place.Claire was safe. Maeve and Matthew too. The war was over. Richard was dead. His empire had turned to ashes and newspaper headlines. But there was still one thing I needed to do. One thing Declan had asked me to do before we tried to build anything new.He wanted to take me to her grave.The real Beatrice.My sister.The woman he buried, thinking it was me.When the plane landed, the rain was light and steady. Dublin looked gray and quiet. We took a car and drove straight to the private cemetery Declan has kept since before everything fell apart. It's a discreet place, surrounded by tall trees, awa
The scandal explodes on a Tuesday morning.I'm sitting on the porch of the house we rented on the outskirts of Boston, drinking tea that's already gone cold. The baby moved twice today. Declan is in the kitchen on the phone with someone from the company. Harvey is upstairs, probably on the computer, as he's been almost every day since we returned from Glenfinnan.It was Harvey who leaked everything.Not all at once. He did it calmly, as always. He chose the right journalists. Chose the right documents. Chose the perfect timing. Three days after Richard died, the first anonymous emails started arriving at media outlets in several countries. Then came the physical packages with evidence. Then the access to accounts and documents no one should have.In less than forty-eight hours, the name Ashford was on every news channel in the world.The first story came out in the New York Times.The headline was direct:"Ashford Empire Built on Corruption, Influence Peddling, and Memory Manipulation
We weren't leaving Boston without closing this last account.After we eliminated Richard's five main accomplices in a single night, the city's air felt lighter. Declan and Harvey wanted to move on. They wanted to go back for Claire and start a new life somewhere far from all of this. But I couldn't.Because there was still one person.Someone who wasn't on the list of the powerful. Someone who didn't receive millions. Someone who wasn't a judge or a senator.He was just a doctor.But he was the one who took me from myself.Dr. Edward Langford.The neurologist who worked with Harvey during those six years. The man who used experimental drugs, hypnosis, and mind-manipulation techniques to erase Evie and build Beatrice. The man who convinced me, day after day, that I was someone else. That my past was a lie. That my feelings were dangerous.He didn't hit me.He didn't handcuff me.He did something worse.He convinced me I never existed.And I wanted him to feel, in his own skin, what it'
We returned to Boston three days after Glenfinnan Castle turned to ashes.The fire consumed almost everything. The towers, the tapestries, the documents Richard kept there. What remained was swept away by the rain that fell in the hours that followed. Maeve stayed behind with Matthew and some trusted men to ensure nothing remained. She said she needed to see the place with her own eyes. Needed to be certain that her father and everything he represented were truly dead.The three of us came to Boston alone.Declan, Harvey, and me.The city looks different now. Or maybe I'm the one who's different. The streets, the buildings, the smell of rain on the asphalt... everything seems sharper. As if I spent years seeing the world through fogged glass and now the glass has been cleaned.We rented a discreet house on the outskirts, away from the center. An old place, two stories, with a large basement and no close neighbors. Perfect for what we need to do.Because there are still people alive.R
I sent chapter 97 incorrectly; I sent a chapter from another story, but I've already corrected it. I just need my editor to approve the change.------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Glenfinnan Castle is on fire.I feel the heat before I even see the flames. The air is hot, thick, and heavy with smoke. The smell of burning wood, gunpowder, and blood mixes in a way that makes me nauseous. I'm in the middle of the main hall, still with one handcuff loose on my wrist, my entire body aching. My shoulder throbs where Richard's bullet grazed me. There's blood on my hands—I can't tell how much is mine.Richard lies at my feet. Three holes in his body. One in the chest. One in the stomach. One in the forehead. His eyes are open, but he sees nothing anymore. The man who planned my death, who took everything from me, who tried to break me again... is dead.I should feel relieved. And I do. But I also feel a strange empt
Soft morning light filtered through the windows of the family living room. After a nearly sleepless night, I had insisted on spending the entire morning with the triplets. They were my center. The reason for everything.Darya was in my lap, trying to stuff my hair into her mouth while laughing. Vasily crawled between Luther's legs, clapping every time he managed to touch his father's foot. Yakov slept peacefully on Heros's chest while he slowly stroked the baby's back with protective movements."They have no idea what happened yesterday," I murmured, kissing the top of Darya's head.Lohan, with his shoulder bandaged and arm in a sling, sat carefully beside me. Despite the pain, he smiled as he watched Vasily try to climb his leg."And they never will," he said softly. "We'll keep this world away from them for as long as possible."Noah brought warm bottles and sat on the floor, helping Vasily balance. Zedekiah watched everything in silence, but his eyes softened when they landed on th







