Chapter 8 - The Aftermath
Six months later.
The trial was brief.
Beatrice was sentenced to three years in a state facility for aggravated assault and destruction of property. Her debts consumed everything. The bank took the house, the cars, the jewelry.
Caleb avoided jail time but was slapped with heavy fines and a permanent criminal record for accessory and trespassing. He was currently working the night shift at a fast-food drive-thru. Nobody else would hire him.
Maya vanished from the internet. The last I heard, she had moved back to our hometown and was working retail, refusing to show her face on social media.
They were gone.
I sat in the first-class cabin of a private jet, looking out the window as we cruised at forty thousand feet.
The burns on my neck had healed into a faint, pale scar. A reminder. A battle wound.
I opened my laptop.
I wasn't done building. The nine-figure buyout was just the beginning. I had capital now. I had resources. I had a team of the brightest minds in the world waiting for me in London to launch my next venture—a philanthropic foundation focused on providing tech education to underprivileged women.
My phone vibrated.
It was a text from David, my lawyer.
David: The final restraining orders have been processed and served to your siblings. The estate is secure. Have a safe flight to London.
I smiled.
I closed the laptop, leaned back in the plush leather seat, and closed my eyes.
For years, I had believed that I was the problem. That I was the broken one in a perfect family.
But I wasn't broken.
I was forged.
They had tried to burn me with boiling coffee and public humiliation.
May you like
But all they did was awaken a dragon.
And now, I owned the sky.
