Chapter 7 - The Night the Empire Burned
Richard activated his final plan.
Hamilton warehouses across Brooklyn caught fire.
Accounts were frozen.
Officials arrived.
News cameras flooded the streets.
The company stock plunged.
People assumed Deari's empire was collapsing.
Richard went on television.
He called it a restructuring crisis.
He blamed Deari.
He called him reckless.
He never mentioned the kidnappings.
Meanwhile, Deari and Luigi prepared to rescue Tommy.
Caitlyn insisted on going.
Deari refused.
She stared at him.
“You promised not to control me.”
“I promised to protect you.”
“That is not the same thing.”
He sighed.
“You're impossible.”
“You're worse.”
Luigi laughed.
“Finally, somebody said it.”
They located Tommy inside an abandoned country club.
The rescue began at midnight.
Deari entered first.
Luigi covered the eastern side.
Caitlyn remained in the vehicle until she heard Tommy crying over the radio.
Then she ignored every order.
She ran inside.
Deari saw her.
“Caitlyn!”
She kept moving.
She reached Tommy's room.
He was tied to a chair.
She cut the rope.
Tommy threw his arms around her.
“I knew you'd come.”
She cried.
“I always will.”
A gunshot cracked.
Deari appeared.
“Down!”
He fired back.
The gunman fell.
Then the sprinklers activated.
Smoke filled the hallway.
Richard appeared on the balcony.
“You were always too loyal, Deari.”
Deari looked up.
“You killed my mother.”
Richard smiled.
“Your mother killed herself when she trusted people.”
Caitlyn stepped forward.
“You killed my father.”
Richard looked at her.
“He was inconvenient.”
Her hands shook.
“Why?”
“Because he discovered the truth.”
“What truth?”
Richard laughed.
“The Hamilton empire never belonged to your family.”
Deari's eyes hardened.
“What?”
Richard spread his arms.
“I built half of it.”
“You stole it.”
“I rescued it.”
He activated a remote control.
The building began to shake.
Explosives.
Luigi shouted.
“Boss!”
Deari grabbed Caitlyn and Tommy.
“Move!”
They ran.
The building exploded behind them.
Richard disappeared.
For three days, no one found him.
Deari spent those days rebuilding.
People expected him to retaliate.
Instead, he dismantled the corrupted side of his own empire.
He closed illegal operations.
Turned evidence over to federal investigators.
Restructured the legitimate corporations.
And publicly admitted that parts of Hamilton Enterprises had been compromised for years.
The press went wild.
Caitlyn watched from the penthouse.
“You are giving up half your empire.”
Deari nodded.
“It was never worth what it cost.”
She looked at him.
“And the rest?”
“Clean.”
“Really?”
“As clean as I can make it.”
She smiled.
“What happens now?”
Deari looked at her.
“Now I ask you something.”
“What?”
“Stay.”
Caitlyn's heart skipped.
“As your secretary?”
He shook his head.
“No.”
He took a small velvet box from his pocket.
May you like
Her breath caught.
“As my wife.”
