Chapter 21: The Settlement
Over the next month, everything changed. The company was restructured, cleaned of all illegal ties, and placed under new management—with Lucas and Jude running it together.
We sold the old family mansion and all the properties tied to the ring. Every dollar that had been stolen was tracked down and returned to its rightful owners.
The DA offered Lucas immunity in exchange for his full cooperation. He took it—but only on the condition that he’d never run the business the way his father did.
“I want to build something honest,” he told Jude. “Something that helps people instead of using them.”
Jude nodded. “Then let’s build it right.”
We moved into a warm, bright house on the edge of town—no gates, no high walls, just a big yard for Ethan to play in.
On our first night there, Lucas pulled me close. “I thought losing everything meant losing you. I didn’t know it meant finding the brother I never had.”
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