Chapter 20
Cecilia
My hand hovered. Searching. Grief. And now, finally—
"Don't."
William's voice cut through the sterile hum of the server room. I looked up to find him framed in the doorway, his usual composure fractured at the edges.
"I wouldn't open that if I were you, Miss Locke."
"Why?" I met his gaze. "Worried about what I'll find?"
"Worried about what you'll destroy." He stepped into the room, and despite everything, the man still moved like he owned the air itself.
"Once you cross this line, there's no going back. Not for you. Not for Arthur. Not for anyone."
I clicked the folder open.
The first file was a bank transfer. $50,000 to D. Morrison - Automotive Services.
The second was a technical schematic. Brake system modifications. Handwritten notes in the margins: Ensure complete failure at highway speeds. Must appear as standard wear.
The third—
An email. Subject line: Mission Complete.
Mr. Winston - Robert Locke's vehicle experienced brake failure on Route 95 this morning at approximately 9:47 AM. No survivors. Local PD ruling it accidental. All traces removed as discussed.
The room tilted.
"You killed him." My voice sounded far away, like it belonged to someone else. "You actually fucking killed him."
"That file is fabricated." William's voice was too calm, too controlled. "Obviously placed there by whoever has been trying to sabotage—"
"The metadata doesn't lie." I pulled up the file properties, my hands shaking so badly I could barely click. "Created on your personal machine. Your login credentials. Your digital signature on the payment authorization."
"Which can all be spoofed by someone with your apparent... talents."
"Dad!" Arthur's voice cracked like a whip. "Stop. Just stop."
William's mask finally slipped.
"Arthur. You don't understand what was at stake."
"I don't care." Arthur stood, and I'd never heard his voice so cold. "You don't kill people over patents. You don't murder your partner. You don't—" His voice broke. "You don't make me complicit in keeping her father's killer safe."
"Complicit?" William laughed, bitter and sharp. "You want to talk about complicit? You've been running my company for five years. Every contract, every deal, every dollar that's kept this family powerful—you think that came from clean hands?"
"That's different and you know it."
"It's not." William turned to me, and I saw the exact moment he decided to weaponize the truth. "Miss Locke. Do you know why I had to remove your father from the equation?"
"Because he wouldn't let you steal his work."
"Because he was going to go public with the entire neural computing project. Open source. Free to anyone. Do you have any idea what that would have cost? Not just me—everyone. The defense contracts alone were worth $12 billion. The private sector applications, easily triple that. Your father was going to give away technology that would have made him—and yes, me—among the richest men in the world."
"So you killed him for money."
"I killed him to prevent chaos!" For the first time, William's voice rose. "That technology in the wrong hands could have destabilized entire markets. Could have given hostile nations a military advantage. Could have—"
"Could have helped people." I stood up, facing him. "My father wanted to help people. And you murdered him for it."
Silence fell like a hammer.
"Arthur." William's voice changed, became almost gentle. "Son. Think about what you're doing. If this gets out—"
"I know what happens."
"Winston Corp's stock will tank. Forty, maybe fifty percent overnight. The military contracts will be terminated. The civilian partnerships will evaporate. Everything I've built—everything YOU'VE built—will be gone."
"I know."
"We'll be destroyed. The family will be destroyed. Your mother—"
"Will survive." Arthur's hand found mine. "We all will."
"And what about her?" William pointed at me. "You think she'll thank you for this? When you're both living in the ruins of what you had? When the lawyers are done and the lawsuits are filed and the criminal charges are brought? You think she'll still look at you the same way?"
That's when I realized what he was doing. Not threatening us. Threatening Arthur. Using his love for me as a weapon.
"Mr. Winston." I kept my voice steady. "Let me tell you what's going to happen. In exactly three minutes, every file in this folder is going to be uploaded to an encrypted server and automatically sent to the FBI, the SEC, and the New York Times. That timer started the moment I opened this folder."
William's face went white. "You're bluffing."
I held up my phone. UPLOAD IN PROGRESS: 2:47 remaining.
"You little bitch—"
"Dad!" Arthur moved between us. "Don't."
"She's going to destroy everything!"
"You destroyed everything." Arthur's voice shook. "The moment you decided Robert's life was worth less than your profit margin. The moment you let Cecilia grow up without her father so you could keep your secrets."
William stared at his son like he was seeing a stranger. "I did what I had to do."
"No. You did what was easy." Arthur pulled out his phone. "And now I'm doing what's right."
"Arthur, if you make that call—"
"I'm calling the FBI." Arthur's finger hovered over the screen. "I'm reporting a murder. And I'm testifying against you."
The room went silent except for my phone's countdown. 1:23 remaining.
"You'd do that?" William's voice was barely a whisper. "You'd send your own father to prison?"
"For her?" Arthur looked at me, and I saw everything—the guilt, the grief, the love, the terrible, beautiful choice he was making. "Yeah. I would."
Something broke in William's face. Not remorse. Something darker.
"Then let me tell you something, son." His voice turned venomous. "Four years ago, when I found out about you and her—when I saw those security tapes of you two in the Black Peak greenhouse—I made sure those photos got leaked. I'm the one who forced you to send her away."
The air left my lungs.
"What?" Arthur's voice was hollow.
"I thought distance would fix it. Thought she'd move on, you'd move on, and we could all pretend this unfortunate... attachment... never happened." William smiled, cruel and satisfied. "But here you are. Still choosing her. So now I'll use that choice to save myself."
He looked at me. "Miss Locke. If I go to prison, Winston Corp collapses. Arthur loses everything. His career, his reputation, possibly even his freedom when they start investigating who knew what and when. Is your revenge really worth destroying the man you claim to love?"
0:47 remaining.