Chapter 6 - The Woman Everyone Underestimated
Jasmine's mother didn't deny it.
She simply closed her eyes.
“I was trying to keep you alive.”
Jasmine stared.
“You knew Arthur?”
Her mother nodded.
“I knew him before your father died.”
“How?”
“I worked for him.”
Derek's expression was unreadable.
“For how long?”
“Three years.”
Arthur laughed.
“She was very good.”
Jasmine stepped back.
“Stop talking about her like she was one of your employees.”
Arthur smiled.
“She was much more valuable than that.”
Jasmine's mother stepped forward.
“I was undercover.”
Arthur's smile vanished.
“I thought so.”
She continued.
“Samuel and I discovered what you were doing.”
Arthur raised his gun.
“Careful.”
Jasmine moved between them.
“You killed my father.”
“Yes.”
Derek's face became lethal.
Arthur looked at him.
“Don't pretend you're different, Derek.”
“I am.”
“No.”
Arthur shook his head.
“You inherited the same blood.”
Derek raised his gun.
“You have ten seconds to drop yours.”
Arthur laughed.
“You're in no position to give orders.”
Men surrounded them.
Then something unexpected happened.
Jasmine's mother pulled a gun from beneath her coat.
She shot one of Arthur's men.
Everyone froze.
She handed Jasmine a second weapon.
“Run.”
Jasmine stared.
“Mom?”
“Go.”
Derek grabbed Jasmine.
They fought their way out.
Outside, sirens approached.
Arthur had planned to surrender.
But Jasmine's mother had already contacted federal investigators weeks earlier.
The evidence from the ledger was enough to bring down the network.
Still, Arthur escaped.
Victor escaped too.
For three days, Derek and Jasmine lived inside a heavily secured safe house.
There, away from the empire and the violence, something changed.
They became ordinary.
They cooked together.
Argued over coffee.
Watched movies.
Jasmine laughed when Derek burned pancakes.
“You're supposed to be terrifying.”
“I am.”
“You just murdered breakfast.”
He looked at the pan.
“That pancake had enemies.”
She laughed again.
Derek watched her.
“What?”
“I like this.”
“What?”
“Us.”
Jasmine's expression softened.
“So do I.”
Then her mother arrived.
She was free under witness protection arrangements.
She gave Jasmine the full truth.
Her father had hidden the ledger.
She had spent twenty years protecting Jasmine.
She had intentionally treated her coldly so that anyone watching would believe Jasmine was irrelevant.
The cruel words had been a disguise.
But sometimes, her mother admitted, fear had made the disguise too real.
“I am sorry,” she said.
Jasmine cried.
Then hugged her.
“I hated you for years.”
“I know.”
“I thought you didn’t love me.”
Her mother held her tighter.
“I loved you so much that I forgot love without tenderness can still cause wounds.”
Derek stood nearby.
For once, he said nothing.
That night, Jasmine asked him something.
“Will you ever leave this life?”
Derek looked at her.
“I don't know.”
“Then how can we have a future?”
He took her hand.
“By building one.”
The next morning, Derek made the decision nobody expected.
He dismantled the criminal side of his empire.
He began turning over evidence.
He cut deals.
Closed illegal operations.
Broke alliances.
People called him insane.
Marcus called it brave.
But Arthur was still free.
And Victor was still hunting them.
Two weeks later, Jasmine received a message.
Unknown number.
May you like
Meet me where your father died.
She knew immediately.
