MY HUSBAND THREW CASH AT MY FEET—UNTIL ONE PHONE CALL FROZE HIS BILLION-DOLLAR EMPIRE

I didn't waste a millisecond. I ripped the cap off the vial, pulled a sterile syringe from the emergency medical kit on the wall, and drew the blue liquid into the chamber.

I scrambled over to Ellie, who had completely stopped breathing. Her lips were blue.

“Come on, baby. Come on,” I sobbed, plunging the needle directly into her thigh and pushing the plunger down.

For three terrifying seconds, nothing happened. The cabin was dead silent, save for Leo’s soft crying.

Then, Ellie took a sharp, jagged gasp of air.

Her chest heaved. Her eyes fluttered open, glassy but alive.

“Mommy?” she whispered weakly.

“I’m here, baby. Mommy’s here,” I wept, pulling her and Leo into a desperate embrace.

Across the cabin, Julian wasn't celebrating. He marched toward Eleanor, who was still trying to recover from my blow to her knee.

“It’s over, Mother,” Julian snarled, pressing the barrel of his rifle directly against her forehead. “The plane is grounded. The empire is mine.”

Eleanor looked up at the son she had created, manipulated, and betrayed. She didn't beg for her life. She simply laughed.

“You think you won, Julian?” Eleanor whispered. “You think you can control the blackmail network? The senators? The cartels? They will eat you alive.”

“I’ll take my chances,” Julian said, his finger tightening on the trigger.

Before he could fire, I stood up.

“No, Julian,” I said firmly.

Julian glanced at me over his shoulder. “Stay out of this, Mara. Take your kids and walk away.”

“I’m not letting you take the servers, Julian,” I said.

I reached into my pocket and pulled out the detonator Julian had dropped when he climbed the stairs into the jet. I had picked it up during the chaos.

Julian’s eyes went wide. “Mara… put that down. The C4 is wired to the cargo hold! You’ll blow up the plane!”

“I know,” I said, stepping backward toward the open cabin door, carrying Ellie and guiding Leo with my foot. Aris was waiting at the bottom of the stairs to catch them.

“Mara, don't do this!” Julian screamed, abandoning Eleanor and rushing toward me. “That’s a trillion dollars of power in those servers! We can rule the world!”

“I don't want the world,” I said, looking at the brother and the mother who had destroyed my life. “I just want my family.”

I threw the detonator directly at Julian’s chest and pressed the red button just as it left my hand.

I dove backward out the cabin door, grabbing my children, as Aris pulled us to the tarmac and shielded us with his body.

A split second later, the cargo hold of the Gulfstream jet detonated.

The explosion ripped the aircraft in half, sending a blinding fireball into the night sky. The shockwave threw us across the wet concrete.

I covered Ellie and Leo as burning metal rained down around us on the runway.

The jet was completely consumed by fire. The servers, the blackmail files, Julian, and Eleanor—all of it burned to ash in a glorious, violent inferno.

The Kingsley empire was finally dead.

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