Chapter 18 - THE FINAL CONFRONTATION

My father grabbed my arm. “Stay close.”

Julian ran into the hallway. “Claire! Stay with Mia!”

Claire stepped between me and the door. Maria wept on the floor.

Footsteps. Heavy. Running up the stairs.

Hale.

Julian met him in the hallway. They fought—silent, brutal blows. Hale was strong. But Julian was faster. He drove Hale backward. Toward the stairs.

But Hale pulled a knife.

He slashed. Julian staggered back, clutching his arm. Blood flowed between his fingers.

“Julian!” Claire cried.

Hale turned toward us. Toward me.

He looked different—wild. Desperate. Unshaven. Eyes burning with pure rage.

“Give me the watch,” he said. “Or I take it from your body.”

My father stepped forward. “You will not touch her.”

“Stand aside, Adrian.”

“You killed my wife. You threatened my daughter. You destroyed everyone who ever trusted you.” My father’s voice shook with controlled fury. “It ends tonight.”

Hale lunged.

My father caught his wrist. They crashed against the wall. The knife clattered away. They struggled—grunting, straining, slamming into doors.

Hale was stronger. He drove my father backward. Toward the staircase railing.

“Mia! The watch!” my father shouted.

I understood.

I ripped the watch from my wrist. I held it high. And I pressed every button at once.

“I am sending everything!” I screamed. “Every file! Every recording! To the police! To the news! To everyone!”

Hale froze.

“Step back,” I said. “Or it all goes public. Right now.”

Hale looked at me. At the watch. At my father, who was struggling to stand. At Julian, bleeding but still ready to fight.

And then sirens wailed outside.

Close. Too close.

Hale looked at the window. Then back at me. His face twisted with hatred.

“This is not over,” he hissed.

He turned and smashed through the bedroom window. Glass shattered. He dropped into the dark below.

My father rushed to the window. He looked down.

“Gone,” he said, breathless. “He’s gone.”

Julian sank into a chair. Blood soaked his sleeve. “He will not stop. Not until he has that watch.”

I looked down at the device in my hands. The pink casing was chipped. The screen was cracked. But it still worked.

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