Chapter 249
Eileen's POV
The warehouse door slammed open.
Marcus Goode stood in the doorway. His silver hair caught the dying sunlight. His face was pale—whiter than I'd ever seen it.
"Emilia." His voice shook. "What did you just say?"
Emilia's head snapped up. She was still on the floor, tears streaming down her face. When she saw her father, something broke in her eyes.
"Father... I... I didn't..."
"What. Did. You. Say." Marcus took a step forward. His hands were trembling. "About Serena."
I stayed crouched where I was. The wooden box pressed against my ribs. My heart was hammering so hard I could feel it in my throat.
Silas moved. Not toward Emilia—toward the other exit. Blocking it.
Emilia saw him. Panic flashed across her face.
"I need you to explain yourself." Marcus's voice was quieter now. Somehow that made it worse. "Right now."
---
I stood up slowly. My legs felt shaky.
"Aunt Emilia." I held up the box. "Grandfather's here now. And Silas. So maybe you should tell us all what's on this recorder."
"There's nothing—" Her voice cracked. "Eileen, please, you have to believe me—"
"Then let's listen to it." I moved my thumb toward the latch. "Right here. Right now."
"NO!"
She lunged at me again.
This time Silas caught her. His hand closed around her wrist. Gentle but firm.
"Luna Goode." His voice was ice. "I suggest you sit down and talk."
Emilia stared at him. Then at me. Then at her father.
She collapsed back onto the floor.
"I just wanted the formula," she whispered. "That's all. I just wanted to help the family..."
Marcus made a sound. Like something had punched him in the chest.
"What formula?" His voice was hoarse.
"The... the early aging reversal formula." Emilia wrapped her arms around herself. "The Council promised... if I got it... the Goode family would have a permanent seat..."
My blood went cold.
The Council. Again.
"You made a deal with the Council?" Marcus took another step forward. "Behind the family's back?"
"I thought..." Emilia's voice broke. "I thought it would save us... after Serena refused to share it..."
"Serena refused?" I heard myself say. "What do you mean she refused?"
---
Emilia looked up at me. Her amber eyes were red and swollen.
"She said she was going to publish it. Free. For everyone." Her voice was bitter. "She didn't care about the family's position. Didn't care about our future. She just wanted to... to help people."
I felt something hot rise in my chest.
"So you decided to steal it from her."
"I didn't steal—" Emilia stopped. Swallowed. "I just wanted to talk to her. To make her understand. The family needed this opportunity..."
"And then what happened?" Silas's voice cut through the air. "You 'talked' to her, and then her lab exploded?"
Emilia flinched like he'd hit her.
Marcus made that sound again. Like he couldn't breathe.
"Emilia." His voice was barely a whisper. "Were you... were you in the lab that night?"
Silence.
The kind that makes your ears ring.
"Answer me," Marcus said.
---
"I went to see her." Emilia's voice was so quiet I almost couldn't hear it. "Late. After everyone else had gone home. I thought... if I could just talk to her alone..."
"And?" I forced the word out.
"She wouldn't listen." Emilia's hands clenched into fists. "She kept saying the research belonged to everyone. That she had a responsibility to share it freely. I tried to explain about the Council's offer, about what it would mean for the family..."
"But she said no," I finished.
Emilia nodded. Her whole body was shaking now.
"So I..." She stopped. Started again. "I brought magic-blocking powder. Just a little. I thought if I could just... disable her magic for a few minutes, I could take the notes..."
My stomach dropped.
"You blocked her magic." My voice didn't sound like mine. "In a lab full of volatile magical reagents."
"I didn't know!" Emilia's voice rose. "I didn't know she would knock over the beakers! I just wanted the notes!"
"And then the fire started," Silas said. His voice was flat. Empty.
Emilia nodded again. Tears were streaming down her face.
"I tried to put it out. I swear I tried. But the powder... it blocked my magic too. And the fire spread so fast..."
---
Marcus stumbled backward. He caught himself on a crate.
"You blocked her magic." His voice was hollow. "And then you left her there."
"No!" Emilia scrambled to her feet. "No, I tried to help her! But she told me to leave! She said she could handle it, she just needed me to get out so she could focus—"
"Liar."
The word came out of my mouth before I could stop it.
Emilia's head snapped toward me.
"If she told you to leave," I said slowly, "then why didn't you call for help? Why didn't you tell anyone there was a fire?"
Silence.
"Why didn't you save her?" My voice was getting louder. I couldn't stop it. "You had the formula. You got what you wanted. Why didn't you at least try to save my mother?"
---
Emilia's face crumpled.
"I was scared," she whispered. "If I went back... if anyone saw me there... they would know it was my fault. They would know about the powder. About the Council..."
"So you let her burn." Marcus's voice was dead. "You took the formula and you let my daughter burn to death."
"It wasn't like that!" Emilia turned to him. "I thought she would get out! She was so powerful, I thought she could save herself! I didn't know the powder would last so long—"
"But you knew it might." Silas stepped forward. His gray-blue eyes were cold as winter. "You knew there was a chance she couldn't escape. And you chose the formula over her life."
Emilia opened her mouth. Closed it. Opened it again.
No words came out.
I looked down at the box in my hands. The empty box. There was no recorder. There never had been.
But I didn't need one anymore.
---
"Where's the formula now?" Marcus's voice was barely audible.
Emilia's eyes darted to the side. To a stack of crates in the corner.
"I hid it," she whispered. "After... after the fire. I couldn't give it to the Council. Not after... I couldn't..."
"Show me."
It wasn't a request.
Emilia walked to the crates on shaking legs. She moved one aside. Reached behind it.
Pulled out a leather journal.
My mother's handwriting covered the front page.
Marcus took it from her. His hands were shaking so hard he almost dropped it.
"All these years," he said. His voice broke. "All these years, you let us think it was an accident. You let us mourn her. You let Eileen grow up without her mother."
He looked up at Emilia.
"And you had this the whole time."
---
Emilia's knees buckled. She grabbed the crate for support.
"I'm sorry," she sobbed. "I'm so sorry. I never meant for her to die. I just wanted to help the family. I just wanted—"
"You wanted power," I said.
My voice was steady now. Cold.
"You wanted the Council seat. You wanted the recognition. You wanted to be the one who saved the Goode family." I took a step toward her. "And you were willing to kill my mother to get it."
"No! I never wanted her to die! I swear—"
"But you let her die anyway." I looked at the journal in Marcus's hands. "You took her life's work. You hid it for twenty years. And you let everyone think she was careless. That she made a mistake."
Emilia was crying so hard she could barely breathe.
"I know," she gasped. "I know I'm a monster. I know I deserve to die. I just... I was so scared..."
She turned toward the window.
The third-floor window.