Chapter 10 - Dawn of Aegis
Three years later.
I stood on the balcony of the new Aegis Holdings headquarters, overlooking the Manhattan skyline. The sun was setting, casting a golden light over the city.
The company had completely transformed. We liquidated the toxic assets and pivoted the entire corporate structure toward defense contracting and medical supply logistics. A massive percentage of our annual profits went directly to funding private medical care for wounded veterans—ensuring that no soldier would ever have to beg for a life-saving surgery the way I had.
The door to my office opened. Leo walked in, wiping grease off his hands with a rag.
“Hey, Madam CEO,” he grinned.
He was twenty-two now, filled out, confident, and the proud owner of the most sought-after custom furniture design firm in New York. We had integrated his business into Aegis, but he ran it entirely on his own merit.
“Hey, grease monkey,” I smiled, walking back inside and pouring us both a glass of water. No champagne. I despised champagne now.
“I just got a letter from Mom,” Leo said quietly, looking down at his boots. “She’s up for parole next month. She asked if we would be there.”
I looked at my brother. The scars of our past would always be there, just like the faint, silvery line running down my shoulder. But scars didn't mean we were broken. They meant we had healed.
“Are you going to go?” I asked him.
Leo shook his head, tossing the greasy rag into a bin. “No. I have a massive order of oak dining tables to finish. I don't have time for the past.”
I smiled, raising my glass. “To the future, then.”
Leo clinked his glass against mine. “To the future.”
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I looked out the window at the empire we had built from the ashes of betrayal. My arm was strong. My brother was safe. And the people who had tried to discard us were exactly where they belonged.
Power didn't corrupt me. It just allowed me to finally level the battlefield. And in this war, the right side had won.
