Chapter 17 - The Crown of Thorns"She's insane, Bianca," Marius whispered behind me, his finger tightening on the trigger. "Let me end this."
"Touch me, Marius, and my security protocol executes," Elena said calmly, pressing a small biometric ring on her right thumb. "In thirty seconds, the entire three hundred billion dollar Archon ledger will release into the public domain, framed under Bianca’s real identity—Bianca Rossi. She will be named the mastermind behind the world's largest illegal weapons cartel. NATO, the CIA, and every criminal syndicate on earth will hunt her until she is dead."
I stood frozen in the center of the room, trapped between the man who had lied to protect me and the mother who had manipulated me into a monster.
"What do you want, Elena?" I asked quietly.
"I want what I built," Elena said, her eyes locking onto mine with absolute authority. "I want you to take your rightful place as the head of the Archon Council. Step over Marius's corpse, hand me the biometric master encryption key stored in your DNA, and together, we will rule the global shadow economy."
She reached into her jacket, pulled out a sleek silver revolver, and tossed it across the floor. It slid across the marble, stopping right at my boots.
"Kill him, Bianca," my mother commanded, her voice turning into a whip. "Prove that you are my daughter. Kill the son of the man who murdered your father, and take the crown!"
Marius didn't move. He lowered his gun slightly, looking down at me.
"Bianca," Marius said softly. There was no fear in his gray eyes—only an overwhelming, heartbreaking acceptance. "If my life is the price for your safety... take it. I gave you my empire. I gave you my heart. I will gladly give you my blood."
I looked down at the silver revolver on the floor.
The room went completely silent, save for the crackle of the wood in the fireplace and the howl of the snowstorm outside.
I bent down. My hand closed around the cold, heavy steel of the gun.
I stood up slowly, raising the weapon.
My arm didn't shake. My breathing was steady.
I leveled the barrel directly at Marius's heart.
Marius looked into my eyes, closed his eyes, and took a deep, final breath.
May you like
"I love you, Bianca," he whispered.
BANG!
