Chapter 985
“It’s over, Arthur,” Skye said.
Arthur looked out at the crowd. He looked at Gemma, who had dissolved into mascara-streaked tears.
“She tricked me!” Gemma screamed, spinning toward Arthur. “He made me do it! He said he’d kill my mom if I didn’t pretend!”
The confession played out live on the stream.
Police officers marched onto the stage, led by Liam — not the local officers Arthur had in his pocket, but federal agents brought in by Liam’s lawyers.
“Arthur Sterling, you are under arrest for fraud, embezzlement, and conspiracy to commit identity theft,” the lead officer announced.
Arthur didn’t resist. He looked at Skye as they turned him around, his eyes utterly hollow.
“You think you won?” he whispered as they fastened the cuffs. “You just opened the door to the basement, Skye. You have no idea what’s down there.”
They dragged him away.
𝗕𝗲 p𝘢𝗋𝗍 𝘰𝖿 𝘰𝗎r с𝘰m𝗆u𝗻𝗶𝘁𝗒 𝗼ո g𝗮𝗹nоv𝗲𝗹𝗌.𝖼𝘰m
Skye stood alone on the stage. She waited for something — relief, triumph, satisfaction. Nothing came. Only a vast, empty silence.
Liam walked up behind her. “Skye. You did it.”
She looked at him. He wore the expression of a man expecting a reward — hopeful, eager.
“We did it,” he corrected himself quickly. “I helped. I called the Feds.”
“You did the bare minimum, Liam,” Skye said. “You played it safe until you knew I had the winning hand.”
“I was playing the long game!” Liam protested.
“So was I,” Skye said. She walked past him.
Outside, Julian’s car was waiting at the curb. Skye got in.
Julian looked at her. He didn’t smile.
“Did you send the doll?” Skye asked.
“No,” Julian said.
Skye turned to the rain-blurred window.
“Then who did?” she whispered.
The interrogation room was cold. Arthur sat at the metal table, his expensive suit looking absurdly out of place in the grim concrete box.
The door opened.
Arthur looked up, expecting his lawyer.
Lucian Graves walked in instead, his long trench coat dripping wet.
“Lucian,” Arthur breathed. “Thank God. Get me out of here. I can fix this.”
Lucian didn’t speak. He pulled out a chair, reversed it, and sat down leaning on the backrest.
“The Administrator is disappointed, Arthur,” Lucian said softly.
“I can handle Skye!” Arthur pleaded. “I just need time.”
“You had time,” Lucian said. “Twenty years. And you let the girl remember. You let her find the attic. And worse, you let the police take you alive.”
“I burned it!” Arthur cried.
“After she saw the cage,” Lucian corrected. “The Keepers are mobilizing. They want to contain the breach. If you talk — if you tell them about the Ouroboros — they will come for Skye. They will peel her mind apart to find out what she knows.”
Arthur stared at him. “You’re protecting her? After everything?”
“I’m closing the loop,” Lucian said. “She passed the test. You failed.”
He reached into his pocket and produced a small silver pill case, which he slid across the table.
.