Chapter 79: The Decision

The phone slipped from my hand and landed on the desk with a dull thud. Ava’s message pulsed on the screen, a silent reminder that time was running out. My mind raced through the implications—my sister, the betrayer, the one person I should have been able to trust. And yet, she’d warned me. You’re in danger, she said.

I couldn’t afford to let emotions cloud my judgment now. Too many people were counting on me—Oliver, Lucas, everyone who had been hurt by Daniel. But there was something else. Somewhere, deep down, I wasn’t ready to become the person who destroyed everything, who took it all away just for revenge.

The plan must move forward, I thought. But not in the way anyone expected.

Turning away from the window, I exhaled deeply. Lucas watched me from across the room, tension radiating off him like a coiled spring. His eyes were dark, calculating. He had been so sure, pushing me to use the files, to burn Daniel’s empire to the ground. The more I thought about it, the more I realized