Chapter 303 Final Victory

Chapter 303 Final Victory
Scarlett's POV

The salon doors burst open with a resonant crash, and my breath caught in my throat. There, silhouetted against the afternoon light streaming through the corridor, stood a figure I'd been searching for across continents and through countless sleepless nights.

"Victoria," I whispered, the name escaping my lips like a prayer finally answered.

She stepped into the room, her long black coat flowing behind her like dark water. Her hair cascaded over her shoulders in waves identical to mine, and when our eyes met, it was like looking into a mirror that reflected not just my appearance, but the very essence of what I'd been missing all these years.

"Victoria, is it really you?" I moved toward her, my hands trembling as I reached out to grasp hers.

Her fingers intertwined with mine, warm and solid and real. "Sister," she said, her voice carrying the same cadence as mine but touched with a weariness that made my heart ache. "I'm sorry I worried you. I'm okay."

The words broke something inside me that I'd been holding together through sheer will. Tears I rarely allowed myself to shed spilled down my cheeks as I pulled her into an embrace. For just this moment, I wasn't Dark Eagle or Dr. S or Shadow. I was simply a sister who had found her other half.

"I've been looking everywhere for you," I managed between the tears that felt foreign on my face.

"I know," Victoria whispered against my shoulder. "I've been here all along, waiting for the right moment."

Gabriel stepped closer, his expression a mixture of relief and wariness. Behind him, Aria remained pressed against the wall, her earlier confidence completely evaporated.

Victoria pulled back slightly, her hands still gripping mine. "Scarlett, I need to tell you something important about this yacht." Her voice dropped to an urgent whisper. "The lower deck compartments—they're holding dozens of people who've been subjected to human experimentation. I was one of them."

The blood in my veins turned to ice. "What?"

"Scythe has brought hundreds of genetically modified puppets with him," Victoria continued, her eyes darting toward Everett with a mixture of fear and determination. "They're controlled by sound frequencies, and they're planning something terrible."

Gabriel's jaw tightened as the implications hit us both. We weren't just dealing with Everett Carter—we'd walked directly into a carefully orchestrated trap.

"It's too late to find out." Everett's eyes flashed with murderous intent. "Gabriel Rothschild, you will become the perfect gift for my grandfather, Edmund Carter."

As if summoned by his words, figures began pouring into the salon from multiple entrances. My enhanced hearing had caught their approach, but I'd been too focused on Victoria to process the danger.

These weren't ordinary guards—their movements were wrong, too coordinated, too mechanical. Their faces bore the telltale signs of genetic modification: skin with an unnatural sheen, eyes that reflected light like an animal's, and proportions that had been altered beyond normal human parameters.

"Kill him!" Everett commanded, pointing at Gabriel. "But don't harm Scarlett—she's mine."

The puppets surged forward with inhuman speed and coordination. I counted at least twenty, all converging on Gabriel with lethal intent. My mind raced, calculating the time until our backup could arrive—at least ten more minutes, far too long.

Gabriel met the first wave with the fluid grace that had made Lone Wolf legendary, but these weren't normal opponents. When his fist connected with the first attacker's jaw, the impact that should have dropped a man barely made the puppet stumble. Their skin seemed to absorb blows that would shatter bones, and their strength was beyond anything human.

I tried to fight my way toward him, but more puppets moved to block my path. Sweat beaded on my forehead as I watched Gabriel being slowly overwhelmed, forced back against the yacht's reinforced windows.

"Finish him!" Everett shouted, his voice carrying the triumph of someone who believed victory was assured.

That's when the sound hit us.

A high-frequency whine filled the air, so precise and penetrating that it seemed to bypass the ears and speak directly to the nervous system. Every puppet in the salon froze mid-attack, their mechanical movements grinding to a halt as if someone had cut their power source.

I looked up toward the second-floor gallery and saw Victoria standing at the railing, a small device in her hand that was emitting the controlling frequency. The puppets turned toward her in perfect unison, their heads moving with the eerie synchronization of a flock of birds.

"That's impossible!" Everett's voice cracked with disbelief. "Only I can issue control signals!"

Victoria's smile was small but triumphant. "I can control them because I figured out how to hack your sound control system, Everett. Did you really think keeping me locked up with your equipment for months wouldn't give me time to learn?"

Understanding dawned on me like sunlight breaking through storm clouds. "You didn't come with him willingly," I breathed. "You stayed close to find a way to turn his own weapons against him."

"Seize him," Victoria commanded, her voice carrying clearly through the device.

The puppets immediately pivoted toward Everett, who backed away with growing panic. The hunter had become the hunted in a matter of seconds.

"No, no, this isn't how this was supposed to go!" Everett stumbled toward the salon's exit, but the puppets were faster, their modified physiology allowing them to close the distance with terrifying speed.

We heard his screams echoing from the outer deck as Gabriel and I ran to follow. Victoria was already moving down the stairs, the control device still active in her grip.

On the deck, we found Everett pressed against the yacht's railing, blood streaming from multiple wounds where the puppets had caught him. His designer clothes were torn, and the arrogant mask he'd worn had been replaced by raw terror.

"Stop them," I called to Victoria. "I want him alive for questioning."

"Never," Everett gasped, his pale eyes fixed on me with a mixture of hatred and something that might have been longing. "I'll never surrender to the Rothschild family."

His gaze softened slightly as he looked at me one final time. "In my gray existence, you were the only light, Scarlett. I hope you remember that."

Before any of us could react, Everett threw himself backward over the railing. The splash was immediate, followed by a spreading crimson stain on the water's surface. Within moments, dark shapes moved beneath the waves—deep-sea predators drawn by the scent of blood.

"We need to deal with these puppets," I said, forcing myself to focus on the immediate problem rather than the strange mix of relief and regret I felt watching Everett disappear beneath the waves.

Victoria nodded, her expression grim. "I can keep them controlled, but we need somewhere to contain them."

"I have another yacht we can use," I decided quickly. "We'll transfer them there until we can figure out how to help them."

In the distance, a luxury yacht was approaching at high speed. On its deck, I could make out two familiar figures: a tall man in a captain's uniform and another man whose bearing was unmistakably authoritative despite the mask he wore.

"That man standing at the bow," I told Victoria, taking her hand as our father's yacht drew closer, "that's our father."

Victoria's eyes filled with tears as she squeezed my fingers. "Our family can finally be whole again?"

"Yes," I said, pulling her close as the ocean breeze carried the salt scent of home and new beginnings. "I'm taking you home."

The setting sun painted the sky in shades of gold and crimson as we stood together on the deck, two sisters reunited at last, watching our father's ship approach across the waves that had kept us apart for far too long.