Chapter 9 - The Reckoning
Julian Sterling was tied to a chair in the center of an empty shipping warehouse. His designer suit was torn, his face battered, and the arrogance that usually masked his features had been replaced by pure, animalistic terror.
Dante stood ten feet away, casually rolling up the sleeves of his black button-down shirt.
The heavy doors groaned open, and Aria walked in, her heels clicking rhythmically against the concrete floor.
Julian’s eyes widened. "Aria! Aria, please! Tell this maniac to let me go! I’m your brother!"
Aria stopped in front of him. She looked down at the man who had tormented her for her entire life. She felt no pity. Only a profound, liberating emptiness.
"You aren't my brother, Julian," she said softly. "You are just a sad, weak man who only felt strong when you were hurting someone smaller than you."
"I'll change! I'll leave the country! You'll never see me again!" Julian sobbed, thrashing against his zip-ties.
Aria turned to Dante. "I don't need to do this," she said, her voice steady. "He has no power over me anymore. He’s nothing."
Dante’s eyes softened as he looked at his wife. He saw the healing in her soul, the final shedding of her victimhood. He nodded. "Wait in the car, mia regina (my queen). I'll be right out."
Aria turned and walked out of the warehouse without looking back.
As the doors closed behind her, Julian let out a shaky breath of relief. "She spared me... you have to let me go. She spared me!"
Dante pulled a suppressed pistol from his waistband and chambered a round. The sound was deafening in the quiet warehouse.
"My wife is an angel, Julian," Dante said, stepping into Julian’s personal space, his eyes pitch black. "She forgives. She heals."
Dante raised the gun, pressing the cold barrel directly to the center of Julian’s forehead.
"But I am not an angel," Dante whispered. "And I never forgive anyone who puts hands on what is mine."
May you like
Thwip.
The muffled gunshot echoed for a second before silence reclaimed the warehouse.
