114. Responsible
Later that evening, while the mansion still smelled of incense and wet soil from the burial, Kyron threw himself into work with a desperation that came from fear… and loyalty.
His phone never stopped ringing.
He barked orders, sent encrypted messages, transferred money to silence certain mouths, and threatened others who didn't understand the weight of this disaster.
He bribed hospital staff, erased security footage, locked down every digital trail — anything that could even hint at the horror that occurred inside the Brooks Mansion.
Because if the story leaked…
If even one whisper reached the media…
They would twist everything.
They would drag Maximilian through fire.
"The CEO of a multinational company… haunted by a ghost?" Kyron muttered bitterly under his breath as he typed furiously.
"No one will believe the truth… and the ones who do will call him insane."
Maximilian didn't need more eyes watching him.
He didn't need questions he could never answer.
He didn't need the world mocking him for something that took ten innocent lives.
Kyron would burn the world down before he let that happen.
Sweat trickled down his temple as he continued burying every loose end.
This chaos had to die here.
---
Meanwhile, Maximilian stood alone in the dim hallway of the mansion, staring out the tall glass windows.
Rain had started again — soft, cold, and strangely gentle… unlike the storm in his chest.
He had just made a decision that would change many lives.
He took custody of the ten families.
Not partially.
Not temporarily.
Entirely.
He would house them, feed them, educate their children, pay their bills, cover medical needs — everything.
They had lost the pillars of their homes; Maximilian intended to become that pillar now.
But when he met those grieving families earlier… something inside him broke in a way it never had.
A woman had collapsed to her knees, grabbing Maximilian's suit with trembling hands as she cried:
"Please… please don't abandon us now…"
A little girl, barely eight, had stared at his shoes, quietly whispering:
"Is my dad coming back…?"
And an old mother had simply looked at him with empty eyes — the kind of eyes that had already cried every tear possible.
Maximilian swallowed hard, his throat burning.
He couldn't bring back the dead.
But he could make sure their families never suffered another day in their lives.
"I will take care of them," he whispered, voice cracking in the emptiness of the hallway.
"I promise… I won't let them fall."
He pressed a hand against the cold glass.
Outside, lightning flashed.
Inside, in the dark reflection of the window, Maximilian saw a man he barely recognized — one fueled by grief, guilt, and a terrifying determination.
The same determination that whispered:
"Whoever caused this… I will find you."
And the storm within him raged harder .