The heavy oak doors of the dining hall clicked shut, sealing in the tension like an airtight vault. Outside, the November gale shrieked against the reinforced glass of the Long Island estate, driving sheets of rain into the stone facade. / Chapter 9 / 10

Chapter 9 - The Final AuditI walked over to the reinforced wall behind my desk.

With a firm press on the hidden hydraulic latch, the heavy wood panel swung open, revealing the dark interior of the wall safe.

Inside sat the remaining documents of a past I had spent a lifetime trying to outrun.

I picked up the entire folder of Project Janus, walked over to the stone fireplace, and tossed the thick stack of papers directly into the roaring flames.

I watched as the decades-old secrets, corporate shell company deeds, and blood-money ledgers curled, blackened, and turned to ash.

You cannot build a clean future on a foundation of buried lies. Vivienne tried to protect an empire built on quicksand by adding more bodies to the foundation. She thought power was about holding onto secrets.