Jake looked at the message on his phone and understood immediately.

Lewis had been keeping tabs on them for a while, just waiting for his grandmother to pass before dealing with each of them one by one.

A chill ran down Jake's spine for a moment, but he felt a sense of relief wash over him. He was thankful he'd finally wised up in the past few months and stopped going against his uncle.

Jake quickly replied, "Thank you, Uncle," and pulled up the location Lewis had sent him.

He then drove with Oliver to the given address.

...

Oliver was in denial until the very end. Following Lewis's directions, they arrived at the address and saw the car parked out front.

The second they stopped, Oliver bolted out of the car and rushed to the door, bursting inside without hesitation.

Through a large window, Jake stood watching as Oliver stormed in, seeing the shocked and panicked expressions on Marisa and the driver's faces and how Selena took a frightened step back.

He saw Oliver grab Marisa by the arm, violently yanking her toward the door in a fit of rage.

He was screaming, red-faced, and desperate, but somehow, he didn't seem threatening anymore.

The man who had once terrified Jake as a child, the father who seemed so untouchable, was gone. The man inside that house now was small and pitiful.

Jake found himself laughing softly. He couldn't understand what he had been so afraid of all those years.

With a quiet chuckle, Jake turned away and walked off.

He didn't look back.

That man wasn't worth looking back for.

Jake received another message

Oliver was dead.

driver had accidentally killed him during a scuffle, and Marisa and Selena had helped bury

All three were arrested.

reached the Horton family, Jake was

handled Oliver's funeral arrangements, eventually handing over

hated being confined to the family home so much, it seemed only fitting to set him

scattered his ashes into the ocean, letting him go where the

story had finally

house now that she's technically still part of the

hearing what he

his head. "No, we're fine staying where we

need for him and his mother to return. It would only force them

gave a nod in

more, Jake turned to leave, but before he could take another step, a frail voice rang out behind him. "How could you treat your father like that?! You ungrateful brat! No altar for him, no

had overheard the conversation and stormed out of his room, looking like he had

posture was hunched, and

the day before, and Julius hadn't taken

stopped in his tracks and turned to face him. "Do you think that's what he cared

Nathan froze.

calm. "What he cared about was why you abandoned my grandmother—his

in confusion,

a coward. You should've stayed out of Clance, never reached for power. If all you cared about was your empire, you should have been crueler, but you couldn't even manage that. You weren't soft, but you

deep, and with that, he left without looking

shaking with rage, tried to call after him, but the words wouldn't come. Instead, he collapsed to the ground, coughing up blood before

soon confirmed that Nathan Horton had

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