Chapter 9 - THE LAST GAMECeleste wanted my mother.
Ava disappeared that night.
She left willingly.
A note said:
END IT WHERE IT BEGAN.
The courthouse.
The same building where my father testified.
Victor and I arrived before dawn.
Celeste stood in the courtroom.
Ava beside her.
Celeste had wired the building with explosives.
She wanted the archive deleted publicly.
She wanted Haven's secrets buried.
Ava told me not to do it.
Celeste pressed a gun against her head.
Victor whispered, “Trust me.”
I did.
I approached the computer.
Pretended to delete the archive.
Marcus had replaced the system with a mirror.
Celeste believed the progress bar.
Ninety percent.
Ninety-five.
Ninety-nine.
Then police sirens surrounded the courthouse.
Celeste understood.
She fired.
Ava pushed me down.
Victor shot Celeste.
The bullet struck her shoulder.
She fell.
The detonator slid across the floor.
I grabbed it.
Celeste laughed.
“You think you won?”
“Yes.”
“No. You'll spend your life waiting for another me.”
I looked at her.
“No.”
I finally understood.
“You spent your life waiting for another you.”
Her smile vanished.
“You needed me frightened because fear was the only inheritance you understood.”
Police dragged her away.
This time, she did not escape.
The explosives were disarmed.
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The archive survived.
And Haven's names went public.
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