Chapter 121 The Alliance
Day 38. Thirteen days until the anniversary.
They came in pairs.
First: two CFOs from Fortune 500 companies, both on the list.
Then: a retired general. Name number thirty-three.
Then: three more. Federal prosecutor. Hedge fund manager. Tech CEO.
All walking into the bakery, On camera. While two hundred thirty million people watched.
“We want out,” the general said, his name was Patterson. Distinguished career. Sixty-two years old. Looked exhausted. “Not protection, no deals, out ompletely.”
“Why?” Aiden asked.
“Because you’re winning. Because the network is collapsing. Because…” Patterson glanced at the others. “…because we’ve spent decades building lives we’re ashamed of and we’re tired of being ashamed.”
“So you want to flip,” Marcus said flatly. “Turn witness and Save yourselves.”
“We want to testify against everyone. Including ourselves.” The hedge fund manager Benjamin Torres, name number nineteen stepped forward. “Full disclosure. Every crime. Every payment. Every order we gave or followed. We put ourselves in prison if it means bringing down the rest.”
Ariella studied them. “What’s the catch?”
“Our families need protection, our kids, Our spouses. The network will come for them the moment they realize we’ve flipped.”
“We can’t protect…” Marcus started.
“You have two hundred thirty million people watching,” Torres interrupted. “That’s more protection than the FBI ever gave anyone. Put our families on camera. Make them visible. Make them safe the way you made yourselves safe.”
Geoffrey Hale stood. Walked to Patterson.
“You ordered Sophia’s death,” he said quietly. “My daughter… you told me it was necessary. That she knew too much.”
Patterson’s face crumpled. “I know.”
“Why should I let you walk into witness protection when my daughter is dead because of you?”
“You shouldn’t. You should let me go to prison. Let me face justice. That’s what I’m asking for. Not mercy. Justice.”
Geoffrey stared at him. At this man who’d ordered his daughter killed. Who was now standing here asking for punishment.
“Okay,” Geoffrey said finally. “Testify, all of you. Put everything on record, and then we will let the courts decide what justice looks like.”
“We need to verify their information first,” Sarah said. “Make sure this isn’t…”
“It’s not,” Torres said. He handed over a hard drive. “Everything. Financial records. Communications. Video recordings of meetings. Twenty years of network operations. Already organized. Already verified. We’ve been preparing this for six months.”
“Six months?” Lily said. “You’ve been planning to defect for six months?”
“We’ve been planning to survive for six months,” Torres corrected. “We saw what you did. How you weaponized attention. How you made the network vulnerable. So we started building our own exit. And now…” He looked at the camera. “…we’re taking it.”
They called it the Alliance.
Seven network insiders Testifying against thirty-eight others.
It started on Day 39. In the bakery. On camera.
Patterson went first.
“My name is General Robert Patterson. For eighteen years, I facilitated illegal military contracts for the network. I authorized eight assassinations of government officials who threatened to investigate. I…”
He spoke for four hours. Every crime. Every order. Every life destroyed on his command.
Two hundred and forty million people listened.
When he finished, he signed his testimony. Handed it to FBI agents and was arrested immediately.
“Thank you,” he said as they cuffed him. “For giving me a chance to finally be honest.”
Torres went next. Then the others. One by one, confessing on livestream.
By Day 41, all seven had testified and all seven were in federal custody.
And the remaining thirty-eight network members were exposed. Named. Documented with Nowhere to hide.
But Day 42 brought a complication.
Victoria Frost requested a video call from prison.
“Don’t accept it,” Marcus said immediately.
“We should,” Lily argued. “See what she wants. Document it.”
They debated for an hour. Finally agreed.
The call connected. Victoria appeared on screen in an orange jumpsuit, Hair gray and looking Thinner than before.
But her eyes were still sharp.
“Hello, Aiden. Ariella. Little Lily…all grown up now.” She smiled. “Quite the show you’ve put on. Two hundred and forty-five million viewers. Impressive.”
“What do you want?” Aiden said coldly.
“To offer advice. From someone who built what you’re destroying.” She leaned closer to the camera. “You think you’ve won. You haven’t. The network isn’t forty-six people, It’s an idea, a system. You can arrest every name on your list and it’ll rebuild. Different faces. Same structure.”
“Then we’ll burn it again,” Ariella said.
“For how long? Are you going to livestream your entire lives? Fight forever? What about Elena and Ethan? What kind of childhood is this?” Victoria’s voice softened with false sympathy. “You’re making them grow up on camera. Surrounded by guards. Living in constant fear. Is that winning?”
“Better than growing up in network custody,” Lily shot back.
“Is it? At least in network custody they’d have privacy, Stability, and Normal lives.” Victoria tilted her head. “I’m not the villain you think I am. I was trying to protect the family. Keep the Frost legacy intact. You’re the ones destroying it. Broadcasting every trauma. Turning your children into symbols.”
“You tried to poison Elena,” Ariella said flatly. “Don’t pretend this is about protection.”
“I tried to maintain order. You’re choosing chaos.” Victoria leaned back. “But here’s the thing, In ten days, you vote, maybe you’ll win, maybe the network loses legal claim to Frost Industries. But even if you win, you’ll spend the rest of your lives looking over your shoulders. Never knowing if that delivery person is legitimate. If that teacher is compromised. If that friend is actually a sleeper agent.”
“We’re already looking over our shoulders,” Aiden said.
“Now imagine doing it for forty more years. Imagine Elena at twenty-five, still needing bodyguards. Ethan at thirty, unable to trust anyone. That’s the future you’re choosing for them.” She paused. “I’m offering you an alternative. One last time. Walk away, give me control of the company through a proxy. Let the network fade back into shadow. And I’ll ensure…personally that your family is never touched again.”
“You’re in prison,” Lily said. “You can’t ensure anything.”
“I’m in prison temporarily, appeals are being filed. Technicalities exist. I’ll be out within five years. And when I am…” Victoria’s smile widened. “…I remember who my enemies were, who refused my mercy, Who chose war over peace.”
The threat hung in the air.
Two hundred and fifty million people heard it.
“Ten days,” Victoria said. “Think carefully.”
The call ended.
There was silence in the bakery.
“She’s bluffing,” Marcus said. “She’s in supermax. She’s not getting out…”
“She has resources we can’t track,” Geoffrey said quietly. “Money hidden, loyalists still operating. She could absolutely orchestrate something from prison.”
“So what do we do?” Lily asked.
Ariella looked at the camera, “We vote,” she said simply. “We’ll vote in ten days and then we will deal with Victoria and every other threat as they come. One at a time. Together.”
And somewhere in a supermax cell, Victoria Frost smiled.
Because she had one more move.
One final contingency.
And in ten days, the Frosts would learn that some wars never end.