Chapter 10 - The Aftermath
I woke up in a hospital bed.
My arm was in a cast, and I was bruised from head to toe. A nurse stood over me, looking concerned.
"Where... where am I?"
"You're safe, dear. You were found by a state trooper after your motorcycle went off the road."
I looked at the TV in the corner.
The headline was huge: BLACKWOOD EMPIRE COLLAPSES: Federal Raids at Estate and Corporate Offices.
The footage showed the estate, the same one I had fled weeks ago, now crawling with FBI agents in tactical gear. Brenda was being led out in handcuffs, her hair wild, her face hidden behind a thick, heavy scarf. Derek was already in custody, his suit disheveled, his expressionless mask finally shattered.
I sat back, the breath rushing out of me.
Maya had made it. She had uploaded the files.
I reached for the remote and turned the volume up. The reporter was talking about a "secret whistleblower" who had exposed the entire network.
I closed my eyes. I was still Sarah Jenkins. I would always be Sarah Jenkins. But for the first time in my life, I felt like Chloe.
I had been told to learn the rules. I had learned them. And then I had rewritten them.
The door opened. It wasn't a police officer. It was the man in the wool coat. He looked older, tired, but he was smiling.
"You did it," he said.
"Is it over?" I asked.
"For them, yes," he said. "For you... it's just beginning."
May you like
I looked out the window at the morning sun. The world was quiet. The cycle of the Blackwood grease and the locked doors was broken. I had a fake name, a bank account with enough to live on, and a future I had built with my own two hands.
I took a deep breath, and for the first time in years, I didn't just smile for a camera. I smiled because I was finally, truly free.
