Chapter 5 - The Night Roman Burned His Own Empire
Roman wanted blood.
Every instinct he possessed screamed for it.
But revenge would not bring Mia back.
It might only help Victor.
He forced himself to think.
The apartment security system had been disabled.
No cameras.
No alarms.
No phone signal.
Someone had planned the kidnapping from inside.
Nora stood in the hallway trembling.
“She was here.”
Roman looked at her.
“We'll get her.”
“What if—”
“She is alive.”
“How do you know?”
“Because Victor wants me to suffer.”
Tommy interrupted.
“We found a signal.”
“Where?”
“Three blocks west.”
Roman grabbed his coat.
Nora stopped him.
“I'm coming.”
“No.”
“Yes.”
“You stay here.”
“My daughter is out there.”
Roman stared.
Then nodded.
They drove.
The signal led to an old theater.
The doors were open.
Inside, the stage lights were on.
A single chair sat in the middle.
Mia's red sweater hung across it.
Nora's knees weakened.
Roman caught her.
“It's a message.”
“What message?”
“They want us to believe she isn't here.”
A recording started.
Victor's voice.
“You have five minutes.”
A screen showed Mia.
She was sitting safely in a room.
Victor stood behind her.
“No tricks.”
Roman watched carefully.
The camera angle revealed a window.
Snow outside.
A clock.
A painting.
He memorized everything.
Tommy whispered:
“That's the courthouse.”
Roman nodded.
Victor was below them.
The Ash Crown headquarters.
They entered through the underground tunnels.
Security was heavy.
But Roman had spent his entire life building this city's underworld.
He knew every hidden route.
Every back entrance.
Every weak point.
For the first time, he used that knowledge to rescue rather than threaten.
They found the children first.
Three rooms.
Three locked doors.
Mia.
The judge's daughter.
The senator's son.
All alive.
All terrified.
Roman opened the doors.
Nora ran to Mia.
She held her daughter.
Mia cried.
“You came.”
“Always.”
Roman looked across the room.
The other children were rescued too.
But Victor was gone.
A note remained.
YOU WILL NEVER KNOW WHO BETRAYED YOU.
Roman took the paper.
Then footsteps echoed.
Arthur Bell entered.
The judge.
The family friend.
Roman aimed his weapon.
“You.”
Arthur raised his hands.
“I can explain.”
“You gave Victor access.”
“I had no choice.”
“You helped him take children.”
“My daughter was one of them.”
Roman stared.
Arthur broke down.
Victor had blackmailed him for years.
He had helped the Ash Crown because he believed it was the only way to keep his daughter alive.
Roman lowered his gun.
“Where is Victor?”
Arthur shook his head.
“He's going to the tower.”
“What tower?”
“The Black Crown.”
Roman froze.
His empire.
Victor planned to take it publicly.
A board meeting was scheduled that night.
Investors.
Politicians.
Lawyers.
Every person who mattered.
Victor wanted Roman there.
The trap was already set.
They returned to the hotel.
The boardroom was full.
Victor stood at the front.
He held documents.
“The Black Crown belongs to me.”
Roman entered.
Every face turned.
Victor smiled.
“You survived.”
“So did the children.”
Victor's expression changed.
Roman placed the recovered evidence on the table.
“It's over.”
Victor laughed.
“No.”
He pressed a button.
The building doors locked.
Security alarms triggered.
The lights turned red.
Victor looked toward the windows.
“Your men are mine.”
Roman looked around.
Several guards raised weapons.
Tommy stood beside him.
“Roman.”
Roman nodded.
He had expected it.
Months ago, he had quietly replaced the security hierarchy.
Half the people Victor believed were loyal were actually working for Roman.
The guards turned their guns.
Victor's smile disappeared.
“You planned this.”
“No.”
Roman looked at Nora.
“She taught me to.”
Nora blinked.
“What?”
“To stop assuming fear is strength.”
The guards surrounded Victor.
But Victor wasn't finished.
He pulled out a remote.
“Every major account connected to the Black Crown has been rigged.”
Roman frowned.
“To what?”
“A dead-man switch.”
“If you arrest me, your entire empire collapses.”
Roman looked at the accounts.
He realized Victor had trapped him with his greatest weakness.
Money.
Power.
Reputation.
Roman smiled.
“I don't want the empire.”
Victor stared.
“What?”
“I wanted my daughter.”
He handed Tommy a drive.
“Shut it down.”
Tommy nodded.
Roman had already prepared to abandon the criminal operation.
The legal businesses would survive.
The illegal ones would be dismantled.
Victor had nothing left.
Except one final weapon.
He pulled a gun.
Nora screamed.
Roman moved.
A shot fired.
Tommy was hit.
Roman shot Victor.
Victor collapsed.
Silence.
Nora ran to Tommy.
He was alive.
Roman turned toward Victor.
The man was bleeding.
“You destroyed everything for power.”
Victor coughed.
“So would you.”
Roman shook his head.
“Three years ago, maybe.”
He looked at Nora.
“Not now.”
Victor smiled weakly.
“You'll never escape what your father built.”
Roman answered:
“I don't have to escape it.”
He stepped closer.
“I have to end it.”
Victor was arrested.
The Ash Crown files were handed over to federal authorities.
The children were reunited with their families.
Arthur surrendered.
The Black Crown's criminal network collapsed.
But one mystery remained.
Nora's memory of the night she ran.
Who had put the photograph in her apartment?
Who had made her believe Roman was going to die?
The answer was still missing.
Until Elise returned.
She arrived at the hospital.
She looked at Nora.
“I know who did it.”
Nora's heart stopped.
“Who?”
May you like
Elise whispered:
“Your mother.”
