CHAPTER 9 — The Son Who Destroyed His Own Family
CHAPTER 9 — The Son Who Destroyed His Own Family
The words COURT IS NOW IN SESSION remained glowing across every screen in the ballroom.
No one moved.
The silence felt heavier than the reinforced steel surrounding the mansion.
Thomas Granger stared at the darkened monitors, his breathing uneven.
"I know that courtroom," he whispered.
Edward turned toward him.
"Then you're taking us there."
Thomas nodded slowly.
"I should have gone back years ago."
Dawn broke over Blackwood Estate.
The storm had passed, but the atmosphere inside the mansion remained tense.
Federal agents escorted dozens of guests from the ballroom one at a time after recording formal statements.
Those who had tried to help Victoria were thanked and released.
Those who had lied during questioning were informed they would be contacted again.
Every departure was recorded.
Every statement preserved.
The cameras, true to their silent promise, had never stopped recording.
In the mansion's library, Victoria, Edward, Sophia, Director James Carter, and Thomas gathered around a large oak table.
A digital map of the abandoned federal courthouse glowed on a monitor.
James pointed to the building.
"It was closed eighteen years ago after structural damage."
Thomas quietly shook his head.
"No."
"It was closed because someone wanted it forgotten."
He traced one finger across the blueprint.
"There's a chamber beneath the original courtroom."
"No public records mention it."
Edward frowned.
"How do you know?"
Thomas answered without hesitation.
"Because I helped build it."
The room fell silent.
Before anyone could question him further, a federal agent entered hurriedly.
"Director."
James looked up.
"What is it?"
"We've finished analyzing Adrian Wolfe's phone."
Charles Wolfe, seated under guard in the corner of the room, remained expressionless.
James accepted the evidence tablet.
"Anything useful?"
The agent hesitated.
"You should see it yourself."
James opened the first recovered file.
Most messages had been deleted.
But Sterling's cyber team had restored them.
Thousands of encrypted conversations appeared.
Victoria immediately noticed one contact repeated more than any other.
UNKNOWN – KING
She looked at Edward.
"King?"
Edward's expression hardened.
"I don't like that name."
The latest conversation had been sent only hours before the gala.
KING: Tonight changes everything.
ADRIAN: She'll sign after I scare her.
KING: If she refuses?
ADRIAN: Then I'll make sure she never speaks again.
The room became deadly quiet.
Sophia whispered,
"He planned it."
James nodded.
"Long before the gala."
Victoria continued scrolling.
More messages appeared.
KING: Your father must never know.
ADRIAN: He still thinks I'm following instructions.
Edward slowly turned toward Charles.
"Instructions?"
Charles looked genuinely confused.
"I've never seen those messages."
Victoria studied his face carefully.
She had spent years learning how to read deception.
For the first time...
She believed him.
Charles wasn't pretending.
He truly had no idea.
James opened another file.
This one contained voice recordings automatically backed up from Adrian's phone.
A conversation began playing through the room.
Adrian's voice was unmistakable.
"My father keeps talking about legacy."
"He's old."
"Once he's gone, everything belongs to me."
A second voice replied.
"Not if he changes his will."
Adrian laughed.
"He won't have the chance."
Charles slowly stood.
His face had turned completely white.
"What..."
He looked toward the speakers.
"...did he say?"
The recording continued.
"The old man trusts me."
"He'll sign whatever I put in front of him."
"If he doesn't..."
A pause.
"Accidents happen."
The audio ended.
For several long seconds...
No one spoke.
Charles stared at the silent speaker.
Then at his son.
Adrian, who had been held under guard nearby, looked away.
"Father..."
Charles's voice trembled.
"Were you planning to kill me?"
Adrian said nothing.
Charles took one slow step closer.
"I asked you a question."
Still nothing.
The silence became the answer.
Victoria watched the powerful billionaire she had considered untouchable only hours earlier.
For the first time...
He no longer looked like a king.
He looked like an old father discovering that the child he had spoiled had become a stranger.
"You idiot."
Charles's voice cracked.
"I built everything..."
"For you."
Adrian suddenly laughed.
It wasn't nervous.
It wasn't ashamed.
It was cold.
"You built it for yourself."
Charles stared at him.
"You taught me one lesson my entire life."
Adrian's eyes burned with resentment.
"Power belongs to whoever takes it."
"You cheated competitors."
"You bribed officials."
"You crushed anyone who stood in your way."
He stepped closer despite the guards.
"And now you're surprised..."
"...that I learned from the best?"
The words struck Charles harder than any physical blow.
No one interrupted.
Not even Director Carter.
Because everyone in the room understood something profound.
Adrian had not become a monster overnight.
He had been raised inside an empire where winning mattered more than morality.
Where consequences belonged to ordinary people.
Until now.
Charles slowly lowered himself into a chair.
He looked twenty years older than he had the night before.
"I created this."
Edward answered quietly.
"Yes."
"You did."
Charles covered his face with trembling hands.
"I thought I was building a legacy."
Edward looked directly at him.
"You built fear."
"And fear doesn't raise children."
"It creates successors who fear nothing."
Sophia's tablet suddenly chimed.
She frowned as she read the new report.
"Victoria."
"What is it?"
"The cyber team decrypted the final message Adrian received."
Victoria accepted the tablet.
Unlike the others...
This message had been sent after Adrian attacked her.
Only four words.
PHASE TWO HAS FAILED.
Below it...
Another message appeared thirty seconds later.
REMOVE THE FATHER.
Edward looked up sharply.
"Which father?"
Before anyone could answer...
A gunshot shattered the silence.
CRACK!
The library window exploded inward.
Glass rained across the hardwood floor.
A federal agent shouted,
"Sniper!"
Security officers instantly threw Edward and Victoria behind the heavy conference table.
Another shot slammed into the fireplace where Edward had been standing only a second earlier.
Chaos erupted.
Outside...
The assassin had been waiting all along.
May you like
And someone still wanted a father dead.
End of Chapter 9
