Chapter 7 - The Reckoning
The sun began to rise over the Long Island Sound, painting the stormy sky in soft shades of orange and pink. The rain had finally stopped.
At the Starks estate, three black SUVs pulled up the long gravel driveway. Rory stepped out of the lead vehicle, looking weary but unyielding. The battle at sea was over; Vance's syndicate had been dismantled in a single night, its leadership arrested or forced into exile, its vast assets seized by Rory’s legal team.
Rory walked straight into the estate and headed down to the basement holding cells.
Susan sat huddled in the corner of her cell, pale and disheveled. When she heard the door open, she scrambled to her feet, pressing her hands against the reinforced glass.
"Rory! Please! Tell me it's over!" she cried. "Did you catch Vance?"
Rory stood on the other side of the glass, looking at her with cold detachment. "Vance is gone, Susan. His organization no longer exists."
Susan let out a gasp of relief. "Oh, thank God! Thank God! Then... then I can come upstairs? We can put this awful nightmare behind us?"
"You don't understand," Rory said softly. "Vance didn't force you to put that bear in my daughters' room. You chose to do it. You traded Lily and Rose’s health for greed."
"I didn't know it was hurting them!" Susan sobbed. "You have to believe me!"
"Ignorance isn't an excuse when it comes to my children," Rory replied. "I'm not going to kill you, Susan. My brother loved you, and for his memory, I will spare your life. But you are stripped of the Starks name, every dollar of your trust fund, and every piece of property you hold."
He signaled to two guards standing nearby. "Escort her to the airport. Put her on a one-way flight to a remote estate in Eastern Europe. She is never to step foot in the United States again. If she ever attempts to contact my daughters, finish it."
May you like
Susan shrieked and banged against the glass as the guards unlocked the cell and led her away, her desperate pleas fading down the long concrete corridor.
Rory turned away, taking a deep, cleansing breath. The darkness that had hovered over his home for two months was finally lifting. But he had one final, crucial debt to settle.
