CHAPTER TEN
The woman had a fake smile on her face…She held the ledger loosely, almost casually, as if it were nothing more than a prop in a play they'd all been forced to perform.
Elena's pulse hammered in her throat. The engine idled beneath her, a low growl ready to become a scream.
Jax's fingers tightened on hers…not to stop her, but to anchor them both.
"You knew we'd come," Elena said. Her voice sounded distant, like it belonged to someone else.
"Of course." The woman shrugged one shoulder. "Desperation has a scent. You reek of it."
The cameraman shifted slightly, keeping them framed. The red light stayed steady.
Jax spoke first, voice rough. "What do you want? Really…No more games."
The woman considered him for a moment, then stepped closer…close enough that Elena could see the faint scar running along her jawline, thin and silver in the headlights.
"I want closure," she said.
"Eclipse was Victoria's vanity project…messy and emotional.
She let feelings cloud judgment. I don't… The ledger is the last loose thread. Once it's gone…properly gone then eclipse ends. No more leaks,no more loose ends and no more you two digging where you don't belong."
Elena's eyes flicked to the book. "You already have copies. You said so."
"Digital copies can be hacked…copied or leaked again.
The physical one is the only original. Destroy it in front of witnesses…live, streamed and the myth dies with it.
No one can prove it ever existed beyond rumors.
Your father's company stays intact. The board meeting is canceled. The red folder never surfaces. You walk away bruised but breathing."
Jax let out a bitter laugh. "And we just trust you?"
"You don't have to trust me." She lifted the ledger higher.
"You have to choose…Is either you both hand over your phones to me… step out and Watch me burn this right here then drive away or…" She nodded toward the cameraman.
"This footage goes live in twelve hours telling them you are attacking me and trying to steal evidence..
Then the transfers would be traced to your accounts elena.
The narrative becomes: the daughter and her lover tried to destroy the company from the inside. It's cleaner that way—for everyone except you."
Elena felt the weight of every choice crash down at once.
She looked at Jax. His face was pale, jaw locked, but his eyes were clear. No more secrets behind them. Just regret and resolve.
She turned back to the woman.
"Burn it," Elena said.
The woman's eyebrows lifted slightly and surprisingly, maybe the first genuine emotion she'd shown.
"Now," Elena added. "Here. In front of us. No tricks. No edits. We watch every page turn to ash."
Jax's hand squeezed hers once…approval, warning, goodbye to whatever illusion of control they'd had left.
The woman studied them both for a long beat.
Then she nodded.
"Phones. On the ground…outside the car too."
Elena hesitated only a second. She powered hers off, opened the door, and dropped it onto the dirt. Jax did the same.
They stepped out slowly.
Gravel crunched under their shoes.
The night air was cold, sharp with pine.
The woman gestured to the cameraman. He lowered the phone but kept recording…horizontal now, like a documentary instead of a threat.
She walked to the center of the dirt track, between the SUV and Elena's car.
From her coat pocket she pulled a small metal tin, flicked it open,lighter fluid and matches.
She laid the ledger on the ground.
Open it to the first page.
"Look closely," she said.
"This is the end of it."
She poured the fluid in a thin line across the open pages. The sharp chemical smell cut through the pine.
Elena stepped forward one pace. Jax stayed at her side.
The woman struck a match. The flame flared orange.
She dropped it.
Pages caught instantly…yellow turning black, curling, shrinking. Names and numbers vanishing in fire. Column after column. Year after year. Leverage... secrets and power.
The woman didn't rush. She turned pages as they burned, making sure every sheet was consumed. Smoke rose thick and acrid, stinging eyes.
When the last page was ash, she ground the remains under her boot until nothing recognizable remained.
Silence followed. Only the crackle of cooling embers.
The woman looked up.
"It's done."
Elena's voice was quiet. "The footage?"
"Deleted." The woman lifted her own phone, showed the screen…empty gallery, recent videos gone.
"The live stream was never real…just pressure.
The copies of the ledger are being wiped as we speak.
Servers scrubbed. Your father's accounts will be restored by morning. The transfers were reversed. The board meeting was canceled. No red folder and no scandal."
Jax spoke. "And us?"
"You disappear from the story." She looked between them. "Go home. Rebuild. Or don't. That's your choice now. But Eclipse is finished. No sequel."
The cameraman packed up his gear. The woman walked back to the SUV.
One last look over her shoulder.
"Don't look for me," she said.
"You won't find me."
The doors closed. The engine started. Headlights swept once across Elena and Jax…almost gentle then the SUV reversed, turned, and disappeared down the dirt track.
They stood there until the taillights vanished.
Only smoke and silence remained.
Elena looked down at the charred circle on the ground.
Nothing left but ash and memory.
Jax reached for her hand.
This time she didn't pull away.
They walked back to the car in silence. Got in and started the engine.
She turned the car around slowly, headlights catching the smoke one last time.
As they drove back toward the city, the first gray light of dawn crept over the trees.
No black SUV followed.
No phone buzzed.
No shadows waited.
Just the road ahead…long, open and theirs.
Elena glanced at Jax.
He was watching her, quiet.
She reached over, rested her hand on his knee.
He covered it with his own.
Neither spoke.
They didn't need to.
The nightmare was over.
And whatever came next, they would face it together…no secrets, no games, just the truth they had finally earned.
The sun rose behind them, slow and certain.
A new day.
A clean page.