Chapter 7 - The Person We Thought Was Protecting Us Betrayed Everyone—And My Mother Finally Revealed Who the Chancellor Really Was
We escaped the warehouse through a tunnel.
Nobody spoke.
The betrayal had changed everything.
Silas wanted the final account.
The Chancellor wanted control.
And my blood opened the door.
But someone else knew more.
My mother.
She finally told us the truth.
The Chancellor was Giovanni Viscari's brother.
Lucien.
I stared.
“But Lucien is dead.”
“No.”
“He's alive.”
“Yes.”
“Then why would he hide?”
“Because he created the system before realizing what it became.”
Adrien looked stunned.
“My uncle built the Blue Room?”
“He helped create it.”
“And then?”
“He tried to destroy it.”
I looked at the files.
“Why didn't he tell us?”
“He believed everyone near him would die.”
“People did.”
My mother closed her eyes.
“I know.”
We found Lucien in a church outside Philadelphia.
He was older than I expected.
Thin.
Tired.
But alive.
Adrien stopped when he saw him.
“You're alive.”
Lucien nodded.
“I had to be.”
“Why?”
“To finish what I started.”
He looked at me.
“You are the final heir.”
“I don't want it.”
“You don't have to.”
“What is the final account?”
“The truth.”
He explained.
The Blue Room contained evidence not only against corrupt officials, but against every powerful organization that had participated in it.
The Viscari family.
Vane family.
Several political dynasties.
Judges.
Police commissioners.
Business leaders.
But one person had manipulated all of them.
Silas Vane.
Not as the Chancellor.
The title had belonged to a secret committee.
Silas had eliminated every member one by one.
Then he took control.
He had been using Marcus to access the final key.
Marcus didn't know the full plan.
He was simply useful.
I thought about Marcus.
For a second, I felt pity.
Then I remembered his hands around my throat.
I let it go.
Lucien looked at Adrien.
“Your father tried to stop Silas.”
“He failed.”
“Yes.”
“What about Giovanni?”
“He was murdered.”
Adrien's jaw tightened.
“By Silas.”
“Yes.”
I looked at Lucien.
“And my father?”
“Daniel helped Evelyn escape.”
“Why did he leave me?”
“Because Silas threatened to kill you.”
I cried.
Again.
So many lies.
So many sacrifices.
So much fear.
Lucien handed me a key.
“This opens the final archive.”
I looked at it.
“Where?”
“Under the courthouse.”
My stomach dropped.
“The courthouse?”
“Yes.”
“The same court system Silas controls.”
“Exactly.”
We entered the courthouse at night.
The city above was silent.
The basement was not.
There were guards.
Cameras.
Hidden rooms.
Silas had turned the courthouse into the heart of the operation.
We reached the final door.
I used the key.
It opened.
Inside was everything.
Evidence.
Videos.
Confessions.
Bank transfers.
And one recording.
Silas speaking.
He confessed to killing Giovanni.
To framing Lucien.
To manipulating Marcus.
To ordering the attack on me.
He believed that if he controlled me, he controlled the final archive.
Adrien watched.
His hands shook.
My brother looked like he wanted to destroy the entire building.
I touched his arm.
“Don't.”
“He killed our father.”
“I know.”
“He hunted you.”
“I know.”
“If I let him go—”
“Then he'll keep hurting people.”
He looked at me.
“What do you want?”
“Justice.”
He nodded.
We copied everything.
Then sent it to federal authorities.
The courthouse doors opened.
Agents stormed in.
Silas appeared on a balcony.
He looked at me.
“You think this changes anything?”
“Yes.”
He raised his weapon.
Adrien moved.
The shot missed.
Agents surrounded him.
Silas laughed.
“You've destroyed the city.”
I answered:
“No.”
I held up the drive.
“We destroyed your lies.”
Silas was arrested.
The room went silent.
For the first time, the Blue Room belonged to no one.
It was over.
Or so we thought.
Because when we returned to the mansion, Marcus was waiting.
He was bruised.
Bloodied.
But alive.
He looked at me.
“I need to tell you something.”
I stood behind Adrien.
“What?”
Marcus swallowed.
“I wasn't the one who ordered your death.”
“You hurt me.”
“I know.”
“You threatened me.”
“I know.”
“What do you want?”
He handed Adrien a photograph.
A man standing beside Silas.
The Chancellor.
Silas's real partner.
Someone we hadn't seen before.
Adrien looked at the image.
Then his face changed.
“That's impossible.”
I looked closer.
It was the mayor.
The most beloved man in New York.
The man who had spoken about justice for years.
The man who had attended every major Viscari event.
May you like
The real Chancellor.
And he was still free.
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