Chapter 25 - A Letter from the Past
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The heavy oak doors of the Blackwood mansion were rarely breached by uninvited mail.
Security screened everything.
But sometimes, the past had a way of slipping through the cracks.
Victor was sitting in his study, a glass of amber whiskey resting on the desk.
Marcus walked in, holding a single, unmarked white envelope.
“This arrived at the front gate,” Marcus said, his tone cautious. “Hand-delivered. The guards didn't catch the courier in time.”
Victor set his pen down.
“Has it been scanned?”
“Yes. No explosives. No toxins. Just paper.”
Victor took the envelope.
He recognized the handwriting immediately.
It was jagged, sharp, and aggressive.
It belonged to Elias Thorne.
Elias was a former associate. A man Victor had destroyed utterly when he tried to betray the family years ago.
Victor thought Elias was dead.
Apparently, he was just hiding.
Victor slid his silver letter opener under the flap and pulled out the single sheet of paper.
He read it in silence.
The room felt completely still.
“What does it say?” Marcus asked, his hand instinctively resting near his holster.
“He is asking for forgiveness,” Victor said, his voice completely devoid of emotion.
Marcus frowned.
“Forgiveness? From you?”
“He says he is dying. Cancer. He wants to return to the city to see his daughter one last time, but he knows my banishment still stands.”
Years ago, Victor would have laughed.
He would have ordered his men to find Elias and finish the job before the cancer could.
Betrayal was an unforgivable sin in the old world.
Victor looked at the letter.
He thought about Ethan.
He thought about the concept of mercy.
A concept he had only learned through the endless patience of his wife.
“What do you want me to do?” Marcus asked, ready to mobilize the men.
Victor slowly folded the letter and struck a match.
He held the paper over his heavy glass ashtray and watched the edges catch fire.
The bright yellow flames consumed the jagged handwriting, turning the threats of the past into harmless grey ash.
“Nothing,” Victor said softly.
Marcus looked surprised.
“You are letting him come back?”
“A dying man wanting to see his child is not a threat to my empire, Marcus.”
Victor watched the last ember fade into smoke.
May you like
“Let him find his peace. I have already found mine.”
He stood up, leaving the ashes on the desk, and walked out to the garden to find his family.
