Chapter 202: Well done, Sister
The guards stepped forward, heavy iron chains clanking in their hands as they moved to drag the four captives away.
Panic exploded through the room.
The Gabriel family began thrashing violently against their bolts, their chairs screeching against the concrete floor. Eleanor shrieked like a wounded animal; "Get your hands off me! Do you know who I am?! Let go!"
Clara cursed at the top of her lungs; "Unhand me. I have connections. I have men waiting to pay for just touching my hand. Let go, you sons of hitches!"
And Victor’s bloodshot eyes bulged as he desperately tried to catch April’s eye since talking to Emily didn’t work out.
"April! April, wait! Listen to me!" Victor screamed, his face contorting in a pathetic, sweat-drenched plea. "I am your biological father! I didn’t know Eleanor stole you! I was lied to! You can’t let them do this to me—I am your blood! You owe me a chance to make it right!"
April didn’t even blink. Her eyes swept over Victor’s sniveling face with pure, unvarnished disgust. She didn’t waste a single word on him; and her cold silence was a far harsher rejection than any insult she could have thrown.
As the guards yanked Victor backward, Johan thritted madly against his restraints, his voice rising in a desperate, desperate threat.
"You can’t do this! You’ll regret this!" Johan spat, blood and saliva spraying from his lips as he glared at Emily and April. "The Le Moreno family will come for me, I’m telling you! My family has power! They’ll tear this place apart! You’ll all be in deep shit when they find out what you’ve done to me!"
Hearing the name, Nat let out a sudden, delighted chuckle that echoed darkly through the damp cellar.
"Ah... I’d like to see this Le Moreno family up close," Nat drawled, his dark eyes gleaming with predatory amusement. He raised two fingers and gave a sharp, melodic whistle.
From the shadowed doorway behind Xavier, one of Nat’s high-ranking syndicate enforcers immediately stepped forward, bowing his head.
"Find out about this Le Moreno family," Nat commanded, a dangerous smirk curling his lips. "Get as much dirt as you can on them. My sweetheart won’t be satisfied with just scrubbing the surface, so let’s clean out the rest of this trash’s family as well."
Nat turned his head, winking playfully at April.
April didn’t decline his offer. Instead, her tone dropped into a razor-thin, icy register as she added another name to the list.
"And while you’re at it," April said flatly, her eyes flashing with a terrifying, unshakeable promise, "find out what the Morgans are up to these days. We can’t let them off the hook with a light punishment either. I want to make sure they look death in the face and shed bloody tears for what they did to me."
The enforcer nodded instantly. "Understood, Miss April."
Johan’s face went completely deathly pale, the last remaining shred of his bravado shattering into dust as the guards shoved heavy gags back into their mouths, cutting off their muffled, terrified wails for good.
April looked at Emily, watching her sister stand tall and unbothered as the guards dragged the kicking, weeping Gabriel family down the dark corridor into the subterranean depths.
A subtle, genuine smile touched April’s lips as she reached out, taking Emily’s hand into hers once again.
"Well done, sister," April murmured dryly. "Now... let’s go finish that movie."
As they made their way back up to the main residential wing, the oppressive dampness of the subterranean sector faded, replaced once again by the warm, sunlit halls of the Reed estate. The transition felt symbolic—behind them lay twenty-six years of darkness, abuse, and stolen lives, while ahead was a world they were reclaiming on their own terms.
Emily walked beside April, her steps no longer hesitant or light, but grounded. Her fingers remained lightly interlaced with April’s, her thumb rubbing against her sister’s palm.
"April?" Emily called softly as they stepped onto the soft carpet of the private media lounge.
"Hmm?" April hummed, grabbing a blanket from the side chair and tossing it over the oversized recliner before settling back into her seat.
"Thank you," Emily whispered, taking her seat right beside her. Her brown eyes were clear, the hollow void of despair replaced by a quiet, steady warmth. "For everything. For coming back for me... and for giving me a reason to open my eyes."
April picked up her dessert fork, eyeing the fresh slice of strawberry cake the kitchen had handed her on her way up.
"I didn’t give you anything you didn’t already have, Emily," April said flatly, popping the cake into her mouth with absolute satisfaction. "You chose to stand up. You chose to no longer be a coward and look the evil doers in the eye."
Emily looked at her, her heart warming her. April wasn’t being boastful, she wasn’t making her feel like she owed a debt or forcing her will on her just because she saved her. She wasn’t even trying to be emotional about the whole thing, but then why were her factual words so comforting?
April was just... there. Being supportive in her own way and holding her hand.
"Now, unpause the movie." April said. "We still need to see if the main character survives his own foolishness."
Emily let out a soft, genuine laugh—a sound that carried no fear, no hesitation, and no pain. "Right away." This was her sister. They were so alike and yet so different it made her smile.
Standing near the open doorway of the lounge, Xavier leaned against the frame, his dark eyes fixed on April’s contented expression, while Nat leaned back against the corridor wall with his hands tucked lazily into his pockets, a sharp, satisfied smirk on his face. Behind them, Samuel quietly arranged evening tea, Alexander leaned in to whisper a joke, and Dr. Oliver Baxter made one final notation on his tablet screen regarding the psychological baseline of the Gabriel twins.
Outside, the sun began its slow descent behind the estate’s high-tech perimeter walls, casting golden light over the mountainside fortress.
The storm of their past was finally settling, and the twin sisters sat side by side enjoying an action movie and ready to beat the crap out of the main character.