CHAPTER 10: The Truth At Last
Lena’s letter told everything—how Julian had threatened to kill Elias if she didn’t help him hide money, how she’d planned to run and start over, how she’d been afraid to tell anyone the truth. She’d written that Victor was the only one who’d ever tried to help her, and that Elias should listen to him if anything went wrong.
When Elias finished reading, he sank onto the porch step, burying his face in his hands. “I wasted all these years. Hating you. Planning revenge. And I was wrong about everything.”
“Julian used your grief,” Victor said gently, sitting beside him. “He told you what you needed to hear to turn you against me. He used you the same way he used everyone else.”
Elias looked up at me then, his eyes red. “And he used those boys to hurt you. To make Victor suffer. I’m so sorry, child. I never wanted anyone innocent to get caught in this.”
He stood up and called out to the shadows around the house. The men who’d been hiding there stepped forward—six of them, all armed, all looking confused and ashamed.
“They’re not criminals,” Elias said. “They’re men who lost someone to Julian’s lies. Men who thought they were fighting for justice.”
“Justice is what we’ll give them,” Victor said. “All of them. Starting with tearing down every lie Julian ever built.”
