Chapter 8 - The Woman Everyone Thought Was Gone
Jason forgot how to breathe.
For months he had imagined Stephanie’s final moments.
He had blamed Emmanuel.
Then Lucas.
Then Victor.
He had replayed every conversation, every missed warning, every moment when she had seemed distracted.
Now she stood outside his gate.
Alive.
Benita covered her mouth.
Evelyn began crying.
Lucas backed away as if he didn’t deserve to be in the same room.
Jason looked at Jaden.
“Open the gate.”
The seconds felt endless.
The front door opened.
Stephanie entered.
Nobody spoke.
She looked first at Evelyn.
Then Benita.
Then Lucas.
Finally Jason.
Her eyes filled.
“Hi.”
One word.
That was all.
Jason stared at her.
“You’re alive.”
Stephanie nodded.
“I’m sorry.”
Jason rolled toward her.
“Don’t.”
She stopped.
“You don’t get to apologize before I understand.”
Stephanie wiped her cheek.
“That’s fair.”
Jason wanted to embrace her.
He also wanted to demand answers.
Grief and relief collided so violently inside him that he could barely think.
Stephanie knelt beside his wheelchair.
“I wanted to come back.”
“Then why didn’t you?”
“Because Victor had people watching everyone.”
Jason’s voice cracked.
“You let me believe you were dead.”
“I know.”
“You let all of us believe it.”
“I know.”
Lucas turned away.
Stephanie looked at him.
“Lucas.”
He froze.
She stood.
Lucas couldn’t meet her eyes.
“I’m sorry.”
Stephanie studied him.
“I know.”
He finally looked at her.
“You know?”
“I know you didn’t intend what happened.”
Lucas cried harder.
“But you still caused it.”
Lucas nodded.
“I did.”
Stephanie’s voice remained steady.
“And forgiveness doesn’t erase consequences.”
Jason watched her.
That sentence mattered.
Because he had been struggling with the same truth.
Lucas could regret everything.
He could help bring Victor down.
He could spend the rest of his life trying to repair the damage.
But none of that made his choices disappear.
Stephanie explained her escape.
Victor’s people had taken her to a private property, intending to frighten her into revealing where she had stored evidence.
She refused.
Emmanuel had found her the following morning.
With help from Evelyn’s contacts, Stephanie escaped.
Then she disappeared under another identity.
“Why not contact authorities?”
“I did.”
Jason frowned.
“Who?”
“A financial investigator.”
“What happened?”
“He warned Victor.”
The room fell silent.
That explained everything.
Stephanie had learned the network reached further than expected.
“So I stopped trusting institutions,” she said.
Rachel, standing nearby, nodded grimly.
“Understandable.”
Stephanie continued.
“I decided the only safe approach was to stay invisible while Evelyn and Benita protected the evidence.”
Jason looked at Benita.
“You knew Stephanie was alive?”
Benita shook her head.
“No.”
Stephanie confirmed it.
“I didn’t tell them. If Victor questioned them, I needed their fear to be real.”
Evelyn wiped her eyes.
“I would have preferred knowing.”
Stephanie smiled sadly.
“I know.”
Jason looked at Stephanie.
“How did you know Victor was arrested?”
“I was monitoring the companies.”
“And you came immediately?”
“Yes.”
Jason remained silent.
Stephanie looked around the mansion.
“I don’t expect everything to return to normal.”
Jason finally answered.
“Good.”
She looked surprised.
“Because normal wasn’t working.”
For the first time, Stephanie smiled.
A tiny smile.
But real.
Jason reached for her hand.
She took it.
The room seemed to exhale.
Then Rachel’s phone rang.
She stepped away.
Her expression became serious.
Jason noticed.
“What?”
Rachel looked at Stephanie.
Then Jason.
“Victor made bail.”
Everyone froze.
Lucas stood.
“How?”
“His attorneys moved quickly.”
Jason’s face hardened.
Rachel continued.
“And there’s another problem.”
“What?”
“Several key accounts were emptied twenty minutes ago.”
Paulie opened his laptop.
Rachel was right.
Money was moving rapidly through overseas entities.
Victor had prepared an escape route.
Stephanie stood.
“He’s running.”
Jason shook his head.
“No.”
Everyone looked at him.
“He spent years building this.”
Jason knew men like Victor.
“He won’t run until he gets the one thing that can still destroy him.”
Stephanie’s face changed.
“The original ledger.”
Jason frowned.
“What original ledger?”
“The document linking Victor personally to every major transfer.”
“Where is it?”
Stephanie hesitated.
Then looked toward Evelyn.
Evelyn looked confused.
Stephanie whispered:
“Inside the Omaly Foundation.”
Jason’s stomach dropped.
The foundation was holding its annual charity gala the following evening.
Hundreds of guests.
Executives.
Donors.
Media.
Victor wouldn’t need to break into anything.
He could walk through the front door wearing a tuxedo.
Jason looked at Stephanie.
“Then tomorrow night, we let him.”
Lucas stared.
“What?”
Jason’s expression hardened.
“We give Victor one last thing he can’t resist.”
“A trap?”
Jason nodded.
“A stage.”
May you like
And if Victor wanted the entire world to believe he was untouchable, Jason intended to let the entire world watch him fall.
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