Chapter 5 - Marcus Took Vincent’s Mother and Demanded the Evidence, But Claire Refused to Leave Her Husband Behind
They went.
Not because they trusted Marcus.
Because Margaret was family.
The meeting took place inside an abandoned theater.
Marcus stood on the stage.
Margaret was tied to a chair.
Claire stayed beside Vincent.
Marcus smiled.
“You brought the drive.”
Vincent held it up.
“Let her go.”
“No.”
“You get the drive.”
“You get nothing.”
Marcus laughed.
“You're still your father's son.”
Vincent stepped forward.
“No.”
He dropped the drive.
Marcus's men moved.
Vincent smiled.
“Look at it.”
Marcus did.
The drive was empty.
Claire had switched it.
Marcus's expression changed.
“You—”
Claire smiled.
“I learned from you.”
Gunfire erupted.
Vincent grabbed Margaret.
Claire ran toward the side exit.
Marcus escaped.
The drive remained.
But the real evidence was hidden inside Claire's pendant.
Her father's final protection.
She opened it.
A memory chip appeared.
The files transferred.
Names.
Dates.
Transactions.
Everything.
But one file was encrypted.
Marked:
DANIEL.
Claire stared.
Her father's voice emerged.
“Claire, if you hear this, then Marcus has found you.”
She cried.
“I'm sorry.”
The recording continued.
“I didn't tell you the truth because I wanted you to have a normal life.”
“Then I failed.”
“You were never meant to marry Vincent.”
Claire looked at him.
“But I was wrong about him.”
Vincent squeezed her hand.
Daniel continued:
“Vincent is the only person who can end this.”
The recording ended.
Then another began.
Marcus.
Talking to Vincent's father.
“After you die, Vincent inherits nothing.”
“He won't know.”
“Good.”
Then Vincent's father's voice:
“Keep Claire alive.”
Marcus asked:
“Why?”
“Because if Vincent ever finds her, he'll know the truth.”
The recording ended.
Vincent stared.
His father had protected Claire.
Even after he died.
Everything he had believed was wrong.
He had not been the architect.
He had been trying to undo what he built.
Marcus had destroyed him for it.
The final file opened.
A list of names.
At the bottom:
MARCUS ROURKE — MASTER CONTROLLER.
Vincent looked at Claire.
“It's over.”
She shook her head.
“Not yet.”
“What?”
“He still has the original ledger.”
“Where?”
She smiled.
“My father told me.”
“Where?”
“Your grandfather's mausoleum.”
They went there.
Inside the crypt, beneath the stone coffin, they found it.
The original ledger.
Thousands of names.
Every secret.
Every crime.
Every payment.
Vincent held it.
And realized he could control the city.
Or destroy the machine.
He chose destruction.
They contacted federal investigators.
They handed over everything.
Marcus was arrested.
The network collapsed.
But one thing remained.
Vincent's marriage contract.
The three-year term expired in seventeen days.
Claire looked at it.
Vincent watched her.
“What do you want?”
She smiled sadly.
“You already know.”
“I don't.”
“I don't want a contract.”
He took it.
Tore it in half.
Then again.
Claire stared.
“That was worth millions.”
“I don't care.”
“You should.”
“No.”
He stepped closer.
“I want a choice.”
She looked at him.
“Then choose.”
“I choose you.”
Claire cried.
Then she kissed him.
For the first time, their marriage was no longer an agreement.
May you like
It was real.
---
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