CHAPTER SEVENTY-FOUR
The toxin cloud had grown so thick in the narrow tunnel that every breath burned like swallowing broken glass. The vents roared steadily now, the metallic taste coating tongues and stinging eyes.
The console screen still showed the father standing strong upstairs, remote in hand, and the visual recording of Lila in the study played on repeat in their minds: her clear admission of using the twin bond as cover, feeding just enough truth to keep Elena investigating, planning to turn the others against her, and working to break the circle so the legacy could rise under controlled hands.
Elena and Lila stood facing each other, the mirror bond that had anchored them through every season now lying in jagged pieces.
The sunrise creed they had spoken together on the dock…
