Chapter 583 - 179 Touched By Angels

Chapter 583: Chapter 179 Touched By Angels

Lila’s POV

Inspector Ezekiel’s smile carried the dangerous confidence of a man who controlled information in both the legitimate and shadow worlds. I had been puzzled by his earlier remarks about Claire’s financial situation. After all, I knew she possessed substantial holdings from her marriage into the Sullivan family—properties and assets worth considerable fortune in our underground empire.

"Ah, but she no longer controls any of that wealth, Lila," Inspector Ezekiel revealed, his voice cutting through the interrogation room like a blade. "Justin arrived with a notary from our network. She signed documents authorizing him to liquidate the Sullivan family safe houses and luxury vehicles to secure the finest legal representation our organization could provide. However, my investigation through our family contacts revealed that Justin sold everything through our underground channels and vanished without compensating the attorney a single dollar."

"That’s impossible!" Claire erupted, her carefully maintained dignity crumbling like a house of cards. "A vicious lie! My son would never betray family blood like this!"

The inspector calmly rose from his chair, walked to the reinforced door, and signaled someone from the corridor. He closed the door behind the visitor, whom I recognized as one of our family’s most trusted legal advisors.

Claire’s eyes brightened with desperate hope. "Counselor, where is Justin? I instructed him to liquidate the family assets, secure a smaller residence within our territory, and use the remaining funds to secure my release through our connections," she pleaded, her voice trembling with the weight of her situation.

The lawyer’s expression remained professionally detached, the kind of cold professionalism that defined our world. "I regret to inform you, Claire, but Justin has liquidated all Sullivan family assets under your name and disappeared completely. Upon investigating through our underground network, one of his associates informed me that he took the money and fled the country. According to this source, Justin stated—and I quote directly—’as far as he was concerned, you could rot behind bars.’" He delivered the devastating news with the clinical precision of a family executioner. "I came personally to notify you that I’m withdrawing from your defense. You’ll need to request representation from the public system." Without further ceremony, he departed, leaving behind the bitter taste of abandoned loyalty.

"No!" Claire wailed, her composure disintegrating completely. "No, my own flesh and blood couldn’t abandon family like this!" The realization that her son had violated the most sacred code of our world—family loyalty—seemed to shatter the very foundation of her identity.

Inspector Ezekiel observed her breakdown with the detached interest of someone who had witnessed countless family betrayals in our shadow empire. "Well, Claire, this appears to be the end of your reign within the Sullivan organization. Lila, is there anything final you wish to say to her?"

I gathered my thoughts, knowing this would mark the closing of a dark Chapter in my life. "You’ll never see me again, Claire." The words carried the finality of a family verdict. I turned toward the inspector, who immediately ordered her return to the maximum-security wing reserved for fallen family members.

A corrections officer approached, whispering something urgent to Inspector Ezekiel, whose expression shifted to serious concern as he faced me.

"Lila, Connor has requested an audience with you. He learned through our prison network that you were here," he explained, waiting for my decision.

"Absolutely not!" Daniel interjected with protective authority, his voice carrying the commanding tone of a senior inspector.

"I’ll meet with him," I countered, turning to address Daniel’s concern. "It’s the final time. There’s something I need to understand about our family’s history."

Daniel fell silent, though his disapproval remained evident in the tension of his powerful frame. The inspector arranged for Connor’s transfer, who entered the room and settled into the chair across from me with an unsettling smile that belonged to our dangerous world.

"I’m relieved you survived the ordeal," he began with the smooth confidence of a casino empire boss.

"No thanks to your organization," I replied with cold precision.

"Lila, I am what our world made me, but I would have provided you with a life befitting underground royalty," he asserted with the disturbing confidence of someone accustomed to taking what he desired.

"Connor, tell me the truth—why me? Why this dangerous obsession?" I pressed, finally confronting the question that had haunted me since my abduction.

"Because you’re her perfect reflection!" His smile softened, eyes clouding with the reminiscence of someone lost in memories of our family’s hidden past.

"Who?" I questioned, reaching toward the heart of what I desperately needed to understand.

"Alice Jewell Sullivan. Your biological mother," Connor revealed with a deep sigh. "The most exquisite and compassionate woman ever to grace our underground empire. Meeting her drove me to complete madness. I was allied with Claire’s faction then, but ended that partnership because of Alice. I desperately craved her affection and approval."

He leaned forward, intensity building in his voice like gathering storm clouds. "For a brief period, Lila, I concealed my true nature within our world, presented myself as honorable and protective, and she responded with her radiant smile that could illuminate our darkest dealings. We courted briefly within family protocols, but truth always surfaces in our world, doesn’t it? Through careless moments, my facade cracked, and she glimpsed the real predator beneath. Her disappointment was devastating when she walked away from our arrangement."

Connor’s gaze drifted toward painful memories. "Then she met your father. I stood no chance against their connection after that. She told me she loved him instantly and would forever, with the kind of devotion that defines our family bonds. So I loved her from the shadows of our empire. I searched desperately for someone comparable to marry within our network, but my wife wasn’t Alice and couldn’t erase her from my heart. Even monsters within our world can love deeply, Lila. When Alice died, my grief consumed me—I never stopped loving her memory."

His focus returned to me with laser intensity. "Then I spotted you at your university. You’re her absolute duplicate in every way. I foolishly hoped to recapture those precious moments with her, to sustain that beautiful illusion. But that was impossible, wasn’t it?" He shook his head with genuine regret. "You embody her spirit completely, her strength and compassion. I want you to know I’ll never pursue you again through our networks. You deserve the peace our world rarely grants."

"Thank you for your honesty," I said, surprised by my own capacity for understanding. "And thank you for stopping Claire that day—she might have killed me in her rage. Thank you for sending me to Estelle, who genuinely cared for my wellbeing." Understanding dawned within me, illuminating many shadows of my family’s hidden history.

"You’re Alice incarnate!" Connor marveled with something approaching reverence. "After everything our world put you through, you express gratitude. I don’t deserve your thanks, Lila. I should be thanking you. Alice was heaven’s messenger in our hell, and she once touched my blackened soul. When an angel touches you in our world, the impression never fades. Be happy, Lila."

Connor signaled to the inspector that he was ready to return to his cell in the family prison system. Afterward, Daniel and I bid farewell to Inspector Ezekiel, expressing appreciation to him and his team for their support within our complex world.

"See you Monday at headquarters, Gideon," Daniel called out as we departed. He had successfully arranged Gideon’s transfer within the police department, which delighted our loyal ally immensely.

I left ready to embrace the future awaiting me within our empire. Like Connor, I felt marked by something transcendent—as though I too had been touched by an angel who once walked among our shadows.