Chapter 14 - THE BULLET
Nathan fell against the dock rail.
Vanessa screamed.
Ethan's team fired.
Pike disappeared behind a fuel shed and ran toward the seawall.
I pressed my hands against Nathan's wound while Vanessa called for medical support.
"You came back."
"You noticed."
"Still mean."
"Still alive."
His eyes filled.
"I didn't blow up the yacht."
"I know."
"I didn't kill Claire."
"I know."
"But I killed everything after."
That was closer to truth.
He admitted the clinics.
The false death certificate.
The trust transfers.
The Blue Meridian cover-up.
He told himself keeping me hidden would protect Vanessa and save Bellmont from scandal.
Then weeks became months.
Months became a story too large to confess.
"Why didn't you bring me home after Claire got me out?"
"I couldn't find you."
"You stopped looking."
"Yes."
There are betrayals committed in action.
Others in surrender.
His was both.
Paramedics arrived.
They took him.
Pike was still loose.
Simon finally talked.
Pike had planned an exit route through the marina.
A helicopter waited inland.
The uploaded evidence had reached federal authorities.
Simon was arrested on the dock.
"You think the company survives this?"
"I don't know."
"Then why do it?"
I looked toward the ambulance carrying my brother.
"Because survival is not the same as being worth saving."
Hours later, Pike was captured near the service road.
No heroic final fight.
No speech.
Just a tired man in wet clothes surrounded by officers.
At 11:47 p.m., thirteen minutes before the supposed transfer, I returned to the boardroom.
Rachel laid out the ledger.
Nathan's admissions had been recorded by three body cameras.
The fraud clause applied.
My fifty-four percent reverted to active status.
Vanessa's executive authority was suspended pending investigation.
She returned from the hospital just before midnight.
"Dad will live."
Vanessa looked at the clock.
11:59.
The entire company had spent seven years waiting for midnight.
12:00.
Nothing transferred.
Instead, the founder screen turned blue.
PRIMARY AUTHORITY RESTORED.
SECONDARY FOUNDER AUTHORITY DETECTED.
Name:
CLAIRE BELLMONT.
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Status:
ACTIVE.
