Chapter 16
The city lights blurred past Elias as he stared out the backseat window of his blacked-out car, lost in thought. The past wouldn’t leave him alone—not even for a moment. Every time he closed his eyes, it was there, haunting him. The feeling of betrayal. The memory of flames. The silence after his mother’s funeral.
But the worst part was knowing his father had never shed a tear.
Victor Crane, the man who commanded empires and shattered lives with a phone call, had walked out of his wife’s burial like it was a business meeting that had run late. Elias had stood there, numb, a boy becoming a man overnight. That moment—when the casket lowered into the ground and Victor simply adjusted his cufflinks—had defined everything that came after.
Elias had been waiting. Biding his time.
So when college ended and Victor offered him a position in the company, Elias didn’t hesitate. He said yes. Not because he wanted to be a part of the Crane legacy, but because he wanted to dismantle it from the inside. Brick by brick. Lie by lie. He was going to make Victor feel the loss he had ignored. He was going to destroy the only thing Victor cared about, even more than his own family, His empire.
But bringing down Victor Crane wasn’t as easy as he thought it would be.
At first, Elias tried everything—sifting through financial records, pulling favours with journalists, and even hiring private investigators. But nothing stuck. Either Victor was clean, or he had buried his secrets too deep. It didn’t make sense. A man like Victor, so void of empathy, couldn’t possibly have a spotless past.
Elias began to suspect some of the investigators had been paid off. His efforts turned into frustration. Every door he knocked on was shut, and every lead dried up. He was ready to give up. Until one night, alone in his office, he heard a voice.
His father’s voice. Through the half-open door, Victor was pacing in the hallway on a call. Elias only caught fragments, but they were enough to shatter the silence he’d been drowning in.
“Hello, it’s Crane. Justin refused to cooperate. I want him out—permanently.”
Elias froze.
Who the hell was Justin? And what did his father mean by “out permanently”?
The next morning, Elias made the call. He hired another investigator, someone outside their usual circles. Discreet. Loyal only to money. He gave one instruction: find Justin.
Three days later, the investigator returned.
“Justin Morano,” he said, sliding a photo across Elias’s desk. “A gang leader. Has ties to your father. They’ve done business before. Arms deals. Laundering. Low-profile, but very real.”
For the first time in months, Elias felt hope. A thread worth pulling.
He arranged a meeting with Justin in a quiet warehouse on the city’s edge. The man arrived late, flanked by bodyguards, his presence reeking of danger and defiance. He wasn’t interested in talking—until Elias said one thing:
“My father ordered a hit on you.”
Justin’s eyes sharpened.
“I can protect you,” Elias continued. “But I need something in return. Anything you have on Victor Crane.”
Justin hesitated. Then, with a grunt, he pulled a thick folder from his coat and slid it onto the metal table.
“Found this in an old safe house,” he muttered. “Didn’t make sense to me. But maybe it’ll mean something to you.”
The label on the front was handwritten in red ink: 2009 – Legal Correspondence.
Elias opened it, heart thudding.
Inside were bank transfer receipts—to offshore accounts. Photocopies of phone records. And newspaper clippings. He scanned the bold headline:
FIRE OUTBREAK IN MANHATTAN KILLS TWO
He stared at the yellowing paper, fingers tightening around it. The article detailed a suspicious fire that consumed a brownstone in the city, killing two adults—an anonymous source claimed the fire might’ve been deliberate. A tragic accident, the police had called it. But Elias saw the date. 2009.
Justin leaned forward. “Your old man hired me,” he said flatly. “Said he needed a job done. A family to disappear. Told me to make it look clean—like an accident. So we set the place on fire. It was only supposed to scare them. But it got out of hand.”
Elias felt the ground tilt beneath him.
His father hadn’t just been ruthless in business. He was a murderer. And he’d buried it all under carefully orchestrated silence.
“I'm only telling you this because I believe you want him gone. And also because he wants me dead.”
Elias nodded slowly and slid a stack of cash across the table.
“You’ll be protected,” he said. “Stay quiet. I’ll handle the rest.”
He left the warehouse with trembling hands.
By the time he arrived at Crane Industries’ penthouse office, fury pulsed through his veins. He found Victor seated behind his glass desk, reviewing a report.
Elias didn’t knock.
He stormed in, tossed the file onto the desk, and let it land with a dramatic thud.
Victor glanced up, unfazed. “What is this?”
“Your past,” Elias spat. “Your crimes.”
Victor opened the folder and calmly flipped through it. When he looked up, there wasn’t even a flicker of guilt in his eyes.
“ I see you've been busy. Do you plan to take this to the police? The press?”
“I do, and i will. You have to pay for your crimes.”
Victor set the folder down and folded his hands. “You’ll do no such thing.”
Elias laughed bitterly. “What do you mean?.”
Victor leaned in, voice low, cold. “If you want your mother to live, you’ll stay quiet.”
Elias blinked.
“My mother is dead, She died years ago.” he said, voice cracking.
Victor’s smile was slow and chilling. “No, Elias. She’s not.”
The world tilted again the the air became thin, Elias wasn’t sure he could stay standing.
“ What---What did you say?”
Victor stood from his desk, straightened his jacket, and stepped past him.
“You heard me. She’s alive.”