Chapter 50: Jonathan and Evan Die

Main Building, Second Floor Hallway

Leo walked up to the two men and looked down at them. "Jonathan. Evan. Good evening."

"Y-you..." Jonathan stared up at them, terror in his eyes.

Ivy broke into an eager applause. "Bravo. Truly. Jonathan, Evan, seeing you two like this makes my day."

"Ivy!"

Jonathan and Evan glared at her.

"It was you..." Evan's whole body shook. "You were behind all of this..."

"That's right."

Ivy stepped closer, looking down at the two miserable heirs of the Drake family's commercial branch. "From beginning to end, I was the one calling the shots."

"Why?" Jonathan ground the words out. "We're Drakes. You're tearing the family apart."

"Tearing it apart?"

Ivy gave a cold laugh, took a cigarette from her purse, and lit it with practiced ease.

"No. I'm saving it."

"Your little clique has dragged the Drake name through the mud. Murder. Fraud. Corporate espionage. You've turned the family into a joke."

She exhaled smoke, contempt flickering in her eyes. "And you were arrogant enough to back my political rival. That's on you."

It hit them at the same time.

Ivy had been orchestrating everything.

Even the brothers are turning on each other. She had set the whole thing in motion.

After a moment, Jonathan swallowed hard. "Ivy... we can talk about this."

They were helpless now. Begging was all they had left.

"Talk?"

Ivy planted her heel on his face and ground it into his cheek. "With you? About what?"

Then she stepped back, turned, and slipped her arm through Leo's. "It's time for our branch to take control."

"Leo..." Evan spat the name, hatred in his eyes. "So you were working with her from the start."

"No."

Leo exhaled smoke. "More accurately, you made yourselves our enemies. Ivy and I just took what we needed."

"She wanted power in the Drake family. And I wanted..."

He walked up, crouched, and met their eyes, his voice ice-cold. "To avenge my brother, Luke."

"You... you monster!" Evan shrieked. "You think you'll get away with this? When we're dead, Father will come for you!"

"Get away with it?"

Leo laughed, pure disdain. "What do you think everyone will believe happened tonight?"

He stood and casually straightened his cuffs. "Two sons from the Drake family's commercial branch killed each other over the inheritance. Evan brought hired guns to hit Jonathan's place. Both sides fought. Both sides lost."

"In the end..."

His gaze flicked to the vest on Evan's body.

"Evan set off the explosives strapped to him and took Jonathan with him."

"A perfect case of brother killing brother."

"No one will suspect an outsider."

Jonathan and Evan were unraveling.

In that moment, it was impossible to deny how clean the setup was.

If they died here, the world would accept the story.

"Mr. Ashford!"

A desperate spark lit Jonathan's eyes. He looked straight at Leo. "I know you want revenge for Luke."

"But Evan killed him. Not me!"

"What?" Evan snapped his head around. "Jonathan, you bastard!"

"Shut up!" Jonathan screamed. "You set the trap! You drove Luke to his death! You stole his work!"

"I just... I went along with it!"

He turned back to Leo, pleading. "Mr. Ashford, spare me. I'll give you everything. Proof of Evan's crimes. I'll help you deal with the rest of the family. Whatever you want."

He had been sure he would win tonight. He could not accept this ending.

"Please... let me live..."

Leo looked at him without a trace of emotion. "Do you know what Luke said in his last call to me?"

Jonathan trembled, unable to answer.

"He said Alice had been taken. He was going to trade his last bargaining chip for her safety."

"He said that in the next life, he wanted to be my brother again."

"And he asked me to take care of Alice."

Leo's eyes darkened.

"But when I got back, he was already dead."

"Sixty-eight floors down."

"And you two..."

He rose and looked down at them. "You spent the money you wrung from his blood and sweat, eating, drinking, and congratulating each other."

"So..."

Leo drew a handgun from his waistband and checked the magazine.

"Whichever of you did it, you both deserve to die."

"No... no..." Jonathan tried to crawl back, but the bullets in his legs left him barely able to move.

"Leo! You can't!" Evan roared. "If you kill us, the Drake family will come after you!"

"No one will know I did."

Leo's voice stayed flat.

He crouched beside Evan and examined the vest rigged with C4.

"These are fake," Leo said.

Then he produced a real detonator from inside his coat.

"What I brought isn't."

Evan's eyes went wide. "What...?"

In one smooth motion, Leo slipped the real charges into Evan's vest.

Then he walked to the middle of the hallway and pressed the detonator.

Beep... beep... beep...

The countdown shrieked through the corridor.

"No! Stop!" Jonathan and Evan screamed at once.

"Leo! You monster!"

"I curse you! I curse you to die horribly!"

Their voices dissolved into panicked howls.

Leo turned and headed downstairs.

Ivy followed, her heels clicking on the floor.

The Shadow team cleared out fast.

Beep... beep... beep...

The beeps sped up.

"Leo! I'll haunt you!" Evan howled.

"Four..."

"Three..."

"Two..."

"One..."

BOOM!

The blast swallowed the main building in fire.

The shockwave blew out the windows, raining glass into the night.

Flames punched upward, lighting the sky.

In the Woods Outside the Estate

Leo stood beside the SUV, watched the mansion burn in the distance, and lit a cigar.

"Perfect," Ivy said, turning toward him. "From today on, the Drake family is mine again."

"Congratulations." Leo exhaled smoke.

"But..."

Ivy rose on her toes and kissed his cheek.

"You made this possible."

Her eyes glinted.

"So from today on, I'm yours."

Leo said nothing. He got into the car.

"Let's go."

The SUV pulled away and vanished into the night.

Behind them, the mansion kept burning, the glow on the horizon like a funeral pyre.

The two heirs of the Drake family's commercial branch died together in a fratricidal battle.

And no one ever learned who had really been pulling the strings.