Chapter 7 - The Man Who Chose Her Twice
Victor contacted Matteo.
“One exchange.”
Nebula for the ledger.
Matteo refused.
Victor laughed.
“Then she dies.”
Nebula listened.
“I'll go.”
“No.”
She looked at Matteo.
“This ends with me.”
“No.”
“He wants me.”
“He wants the ledger.”
“He wants both.”
Matteo grabbed her hand.
“I lost you once.”
“You didn't lose me.”
“I will not lose you again.”
The exchange was set at an abandoned theater.
Nebula entered first.
Victor stood on the stage.
Richard was beside him.
Both men looked exhausted.
Richard's face was bruised.
But he still smiled.
“You should have stayed with me.”
Nebula laughed.
“You're insane.”
“I gave you a normal life.”
“You gave me a cage.”
“I gave you a home.”
“You killed my mother.”
“I protected you.”
“You broke my jaw.”
He shrugged.
“You made me angry.”
The words sickened her.
Victor stepped forward.
“Enough.”
He wanted the ledger.
Nebula handed it over.
Victor opened it.
His face changed.
Blank pages.
It was a decoy.
He screamed.
Matteo's men stormed the theater.
Gunfire erupted.
Richard grabbed Nebula.
She fought.
Matteo reached them.
He pulled Richard away.
They struggled.
Richard fell.
Matteo raised his weapon.
Nebula grabbed his wrist.
“Don't.”
He looked at her.
“He hurt you.”
“I know.”
“He wanted to kill you.”
“I know.”
“He destroyed our lives.”
“I know.”
She held his gaze.
“Don't let him turn you into him.”
Matteo slowly lowered the gun.
Richard was arrested.
Victor escaped again.
But he left one final clue.
A photograph.
The beach where Nebula's father had taken her as a child.
They went there.
The final vault was beneath the old boathouse.
Inside was a USB drive.
It contained every transaction.
Every payment.
Every name.
Including Victor's.
And one final video.
Victor looked into the camera.
“If you found this, then I'm probably dead.”
He wasn't.
But there was something important.
He admitted everything.
The murder.
The fraud.
The fake debt.
The manipulation of Nebula.
Richard's abuse.
Everything.
The file was enough to destroy the organization.
But Victor remained free.
He disappeared overseas.
For months.
Then, one morning, the police found him.
He had returned.
Not to kill anyone.
To surrender.
He was terminally ill.
He wanted one thing.
To tell Nebula the truth.
They met in prison.
Victor looked older.
“Your father loved you.”
Nebula said nothing.
“He tried to protect you.”
“Then why did he die?”
“Because I gave him a choice.”
“What choice?”
“His life or yours.”
Her chest tightened.
“He chose you.”
She closed her eyes.
For the first time, she understood the terrible shape of her father's sacrifice.
Victor handed her a letter.
“Your father wrote this before he died.”
Nebula opened it.
My little girl,
If you ever find this, know that none of it was your fault.
Not the marriage.
Not my death.
Not your mother's.
And not the fear.
You are loved.
Always.
Nebula cried.
Victor was sentenced.
The network collapsed.
Richard was convicted.
And the Vargas family finally became free.
But there was one person still waiting.
Matteo.
He stood outside the prison.
When Nebula reached him, he said nothing.
She walked into his arms.
“I choose you.”
His eyes closed.
“Again?”
“Again.”
May you like
He kissed her.
This time, there was no goodbye waiting afterward.
