Three weeks after Leo's kidnapping, life has settled into a new rhythm. The security is tighter, the protocols stricter, the trust more careful. But they are healing. Slowly, together.
Dom spends long hours reviewing the breach. How Viktor got close, who helped him, what information he had. The investigation is thorough, relentless, and it leads to a door Allie did not expect.
Marcus Chen. Mrs. Chen's grandson. Leo's friend. The boy who slept over, who played video games, who listened to Leo talk about security protocols and escape routes and the layout of the penthouse.
He is fifteen, quiet, awkward. His grandmother has worked for Allie since they moved to New York. She is loyal, kind, essential. And her grandson has been feeding information to Viktor for months.
They bring him in carefully. Not to the warehouse, not to violence. To an office, neutral, with Mrs. Chen present, weeping, confused, devastated.
"Why?" Dom asks, his voice controlled, gentle in a way that scares Allie more than his anger would. "Why would you do this?"
Marcus does not look up. He stares at his hands, thin and trembling, and his voice is barely audible.
"He had my sister. My little sister. He took her, said he would hurt her, kill her, if I did not help. I did not want to. I tried to tell him no. But then he sent photos, and she was crying, and I..." Marcus breaks, sobs racking his thin frame. "I am sorry. I am so sorry. I did not know he would take Leo. I thought he just wanted information, money, something small. I did not know he would hurt a kid."
Allie feels her anger drain away, replaced by something worse. Pity. Understanding. The knowledge that Viktor corrupts everything he touches, uses everyone, destroys innocence without thought.
"Where is she now?" Allie asks. "Your sister?"
"I do not know. He said... he said if I told anyone, if I stopped helping, he would kill her. I have not heard from her in weeks. I think... I think she is already dead. And I did this for nothing. Betrayed my friend, my grandmother, for nothing."
Mrs. Chen weeps harder. She reaches for her grandson, holds him, rocks him like a child despite his size, his age, his crimes.
Dom looks at Allie. She sees the question in his eyes. What to do? How to balance justice and mercy, punishment and understanding?
"Find her," Allie says to Dom. "His sister. Use every resource. If she is alive, save her. If she is dead, bring her home. And Marcus..."
Marcus looks up, terrified, hopeful.
"You made a terrible choice," Allie says. "A choice that hurt my son, my family, everything we are building. But you made it for love. For family. I understand that. I cannot forgive you yet. But I understand."
She turns to Mrs. Chen, who has been with them through everything, who has kept their secrets and cared for their children and been more family than employee.
"You will keep your position," Allie says. "If you want it. And Marcus... he will work for us. Not with the children, never again. But in the company, somewhere he can be watched, can prove himself, can earn back trust if that is possible."
"Thank you," Mrs. Chen whispers. "Thank you, Allie. Thank you, Mr. Volkov. I will make sure he does right. I will make sure he earns this."
Dom nods, his jaw tight. He does not fully agree, Allie knows. He would be harsher, more punitive, more protective. But he trusts her judgment. He is learning to trust her way.
They find the sister, alive, barely, in a warehouse similar to the one where Leo was held. Viktor kept her as insurance, as leverage, forgotten in his obsession with destroying Dom.
She is sixteen, traumatized, broken. But alive. And with time, with care, with the resources Dom pours into her recovery, she begins to heal.
Marcus works. Hard, silent, desperate to prove himself. He becomes an expert in cybersecurity, in finding vulnerabilities, in protecting against the very kind of attack he helped enable.
And slowly, slowly, trust rebuilds. Not fully, never fully. But enough. Enough to continue.