Chapter 183: Chapter Eighty-Eight: The Destruction Of The Thornes (Part 2).
Chapter Eighty-Eight: The Destruction Of The Thornes (Part 2).
The car ride back to the Thorne estate was suffocatingly quiet. No one looked at anyone else. Their gazes stayed fixed on passing streetlights, glowing phone screens, anywhere but each other—anything but the truth pressing down on them inside the vehicle.
Calton broke the silence.
“Silas… you may need to start preparing for the worst.”
Silas turned toward his attorney, his jaw tight.
“Meaning what?”
Calton straightened in his seat. His expression was strained—this case was unraveling faster than he’d anticipated.
“Meaning the generals know more than they’re letting on,”
he said carefully.
“Including the fact that Corey Whittman is dead.”
Silas’s breath hitched. He glanced at Jason, then back at Calton.
“M-Maybe he really is missing,”
he insisted.
“Jason left shortly after. For all we know, Corey got up and wandered off somewhere else.”
For a brief, desperate second, Jason almost believed it his father’s words.
Then reality settled in. The odds of that being true were nonexistent.
Calton shook his head.
“Do you truly believe that, Silas? Especially after everything you’ve told me about that drug?”
Silas opened his mouth to respond—but no words came. His throat tightened. He knew better than anyone that it couldn’t be true.
The silence stretched until Mason spoke.
“If Corey’s dead,”
he said slowly,
“then why lie and say he’s missing? What’s the point?”
Calton turned toward him.
“To see how you’d react. You’d expect them to tell you Whittman was dead. But missing?”
He paused.
“Missing leaves room for hope. And hope makes people careless.”
Mason leaned back against the seat, exhaling sharply.
“So they were trying to make us slip.”
“That’s right,”
Calton replied.
“And they almost succeeded.”
He shifted his gaze to Jason and Rachel.
“Speaking of which,”
he continued coldly,
“the two of you may very well be the downfall of all of this.”
Mason turned on Jason.
“Yeah—why the hell didn’t you tell me Corey actually texted you?”
Jason’s face drained of color. His mind scrambled.
“I—I guess I forgot.”
“You forgot!”
Silas exploded, twisting in his seat.
“How could you be so stupid to forget something like that?”
“Don’t yell at my son!”
Elise’s voice cut through the car like a blade. She glared at Silas, her lips trembling, fury blazing in her eyes.
“All of this is your fault! You and your bastard daughter!”
she snapped.
“If you hadn’t gone after Ileana, none of this would’ve happened!”
“Well your ‘son’ is about to be the reason we all get caught!”
Silas shot back.
“And what about your daughter?”
Elise fired.
“The fucking rapist called her phone!”
The car went dead silent. Every head turned toward Rachel. Even Silas couldn’t defend that. His voice softened, tight with disbelief.
“Rachel… what were you thinking giving Cleese your number?”
Rachel immediately burst into tears.
“I didn’t know, Daddy! I thought—”
“Was there any other correspondence between the two of you?”
Calton interrupted.
Rachel’s sobs stilled. Her face hardened, her voice dropping low.
“No.”
Calton studied her for a long moment.
“Are you sure?”
“I said no!”
Calton turned slowly toward Jason.
“And you?”
he asked.
“Anything else connecting you to Whittman that night?”
Jason’s shoulders sagged. Silas rolled his eyes impatiently.
“Well!”
Silas snapped.
“What is it, Jason!”
Jason clenched his fists, staring at the floor.
“I… I have his phone.”
The car fell into complete silence once again. Calton glanced at Silas, his tone grim.
“Give it to me once we arrive back at the estate.”
No one spoke for the remainder of the drive.
When they arrived home, Jason handed the phone to Calton without a word. Calton didn’t linger. He turned immediately to Silas.
“Can I speak with you in private?”
Minutes later, they stood alone in Silas’s study. Calton’s jaw was tight, his usual composure fraying.
“Silas, I won’t lie to you. This isn’t looking good. District police would’ve been manageable, but you’ve got the generals on your asses. And this—”
he hesitated, lowering his voice,
“—this Doxoten situation? You may need to give up your supplier.”
Silas’s face drained of color. Wyatt Matthews flashed through his mind—not just what the man knew, but what he was capable of.
“I… I don’t think that’s a good idea.”
Calton frowned.
“Why not? It may be your only way out. You, your wife, your kids—every one of you has made sloppy mistakes. I don’t know how much more room I can create. The drug is the problem. If you give him up—”
“I can’t do that!”
Calton stiffened.
“Why not?”
Silas was silent for a moment, then said quietly,
“Calton… how do you think Alister died?”
Calton’s eyes widened.
“What are you saying?”
“I think Matthews killed him.”
Silas swallowed.
“That man is dangerous. He has the drug, and he—”
“He what?”
“He knows everything.”
Silas’s voice dropped.
“Every illegal deal. Every bribe. Ileana. Rachel. All of it.”
Calton stared at him.
“Silas… why the hell would you give someone like that—”
“I didn’t!”
Silas snapped.
“I don’t know how he got the information. Someone helped him.”
The room went cold. Calton exhaled slowly.
“Jesus Christ.”
He ran a hand through his hair.
“This just became a hell of a lot more complicated.”
He paused, then said grimly,
“I’ll see what I can do to keep you above water. I’ll make this disappear—for now. But you need to keep everyone here. No loose ends.”
When Calton left, Silas went straight to the grand room.
The butler entered moments later.
“Summon the family.”
Twenty minutes later, they were all seated in the grand room. Silas instructed the butler to ensure no one entered, then dismissed him.
The silence was thick.
Elise broke it first.
“What the hell did you call us in here for?”
Silas’s eyes darkened.
“Calton thinks we might be in real trouble.”
Elise laughed sharply.
“We? I don’t recall being involved in any murders, assaults, or illegal drugs.”
Silas’s voice turned cold.
“No, Elise. You’re just responsible for being an addict, losing a child, and replacing her with another.”
Elise shot to her feet.
“You did that! That was your idea! Your bastard—”
“And your corporation!”
Silas cut in.
“You had no issue making sure Ileana’s documents were transferred to Rachel. You’re just as guilty.”
Elise froze. Slowly, she sank back into her chair.
Mason leaned forward.
“So that’s why we’re here? To be told we’re all fucked?”
“No,”
Silas said sharply.
“You’re here because now is not the time to fall apart. This can still blow over. There’s nothing directly tying us to any of it.”
Mason frowned.
“What about Matthews? What’s stopping him from going to the police?”
Silas scoffed.
“Prison. He’d be admitting to multiple murders. It’s his drug. And besides—”
his expression hardened,
“—we’re not his main target.”
Elise stiffened.
“What does that mean?”
Silas didn’t answer immediately. When he finally looked at her, guilt flickered—just for a moment.
Elise’s hand flew to her mouth.
“Are you saying… is he after Ileana?”
Silas said nothing.
“Why?”
she whispered.
Silas’s face hardened.
“Because she knows too much. She’s connected to too many people—people with power. This all started because she knows the generals’ children.”
Elise stood slowly.
“Silas… what are you saying?”
His voice was flat.
“She’s a liability.”
Jason spoke without hesitation.
“That’s putting it lightly. This is all her fault.”
Rachel followed, her voice venomous.
“You have to admit—we were better off when she was dead.”
Mason glanced at his mother, saw the devastation in her eyes, then looked away.
“She’s become a problem.”
Elise stared at them, horror washing over her. Slowly, she turned to Silas.
“You’re serious.”
Silas didn’t flinch.
“She can identify Doxoten.”
The room went still.
Jason stared at him.
“Wait—seriously! Is that true? How do you know?”
Silas nodded.
“Matthews told me. She’s a chemist. That’s why she went to Oxford.”
Rachel’s face twisted with rage.
“It was her,”
she snarled.
“She exposed Lorina’s cause of death.”
Silas nodded once.
“Ahhh!”
Rachel screamed.
“That fucking bitch!”
Elise broke.
Tears streamed down her face as she looked at the people she had built a life with. Monsters. All of them.
“She’s our daughter,”
she said hoarsely.
“Our ‘real’ daughter. We owe her.”
Silas’s expression didn’t change.
“I don’t owe her anything. You lost her—not me. I won’t go to jail for her. And I won’t let our children go either. She doesn’t even care that you’re her mother anymore.”
He leaned back.
“It’s time to focus on what matters.”
Elise looked around the room.
No one argued. No one objected.
Her face went numb.
“I see.... you’re all in agreement. Fine.”
she said quietly. After a brief pause, Elise looked around the room once more. Her face resolute.
“Excuse me.”
She walked out.
Silas watched her leave, his expression stoic.
“She’ll come around. She’ll see this is the only way.”
\-------
Walter had just stepped through the door when his phone rang. He didn’t bother taking off his coat as he pulled it from his pocket and answered.
“Levings.”
For a moment, there was nothing—only the faint sound of uneven breathing on the other end of the line.
“Hello… Levings—”
“General Levings.”
Walter paused. The voice that followed was low and fractured, each word sounding as though it took effort to form. He didn’t need a name to know who it was.
“What can I do for you, Mrs. Thorne?”