Chapter 9 - Where Elias Died
The warehouse had been abandoned for four years.
Eleanor sat alone inside.
Or appeared to.
Ronan and Sadie entered through opposite doors.
“Mother?”
Eleanor turned.
Her face showed anger rather than fear.
Then June stepped from behind a pillar.
“Put the gun down, Ronan.”
Sadie stared.
“June?”
June looked exhausted.
“I brought her because she asked.”
“Why?”
Eleanor pointed toward the floor.
A rusted metal hatch.
Ronan opened it.
Beneath was a sealed storage room.
Inside they found boxes.
Hundreds of them.
Documents.
Photographs.
Evidence Elias had gathered.
Marsh had searched for the ledger for years without realizing Elias had hidden his complete archive beneath the location where he died.
But there was something else.
A video camera.
Dr. Bell had stored it there after Elias’s death.
The battery was dead.
They brought the memory card back to Raven Hill.
At 8:41 that evening, Ronan pressed play.
Elias appeared.
Alive.
Weak.
Smiling.
Sadie covered her mouth.
Poppy stared at the screen.
“My daddy?”
Sadie nodded through tears.
Elias looked directly into the camera.
“If you’re seeing this, I probably didn’t make it.”
Ronan looked down.
“I’m sorry, Ro.”
Ronan’s jaw trembled.
“You always thought you were supposed to protect me because you were older. Truth is, I spent half my life trying to become brave enough to tell you that you didn’t have to become Dad.”
Ronan closed his eyes.
Elias continued.
“Mom, I know you were trying to save me.”
Eleanor began crying.
“I was angry. I shouldn’t have left that way.”
Then Elias smiled.
“And Sadie.”
She broke.
“If Bell found you, then you’re probably furious that I recorded this instead of resting.”
Sadie laughed through tears.
“Idiot.”
Onscreen Elias smiled as though he had heard her.
“If our baby is there…”
Poppy moved closer to the television.
“Tell them I wanted them.”
Sadie sobbed.
“Every second. Every possibility. Boy or girl. Loud or quiet. Stubborn like you.”
Poppy whispered, “I’m stubborn.”
Ronan laughed through tears.
“Very.”
Elias continued.
“And if Ronan is there, tell him something important.”
His expression became mischievous.
“If you fall in love with Sadie someday, don’t spend six months pretending you haven’t.”
Sadie froze.
Ronan stared at the screen.
Even Eleanor looked surprised.
Elias laughed weakly.
“You’re predictable, brother.”
Poppy gasped.
“Daddy knew!”
Sadie covered her face.
Ronan muttered, “Unbelievable.”
The recording became serious again.
“Take care of each other. Not because you owe me. Because surviving something together doesn’t mean you have to spend the rest of your life living inside it.”
The screen went dark.
Nobody spoke for a long time.
Then Eleanor whispered, “Home.”
Sadie looked at her.
Eleanor repeated it.
“Home.”
That was what Elias had been trying to build.
Not Raven Hill.
Not an empire.
People.
A family that chose one another after everything else had been taken.
Three months later, Marsh pleaded guilty rather than face multiple federal trials.
His network collapsed.
June entered a protection program temporarily while completing her testimony.
Wesley became Eleanor’s assistant, though she made him donate his phone to charity after catching him scrolling during breakfast.
Dr. Bell recovered.
And Sadie stopped taking assignments from Beacon.
Ronan offered her money.
She refused.
He offered her a job.
She refused that too.
Then Eleanor offered her something different.
A partnership.
The Cain Foundation would establish a community center for deaf and nonverbal adults who had been ignored or underserved by institutions.
Sadie would run it.
She accepted.
Six months later, Sadie stood inside the newly renovated building when Ronan arrived.
“You’re late.”
“Four minutes.”
“Late.”
He kissed her.
Then he knelt.
Sadie immediately stepped backward.
“No.”
Ronan stared.
“I haven’t asked anything.”
“You’re kneeling.”
“My shoe.”
“You wear loafers.”
Ronan looked down.
“That does weaken the explanation.”
Poppy appeared from behind him holding a velvet box.
“Mommy, you ruined it!”
Sadie started laughing.
Ronan stood.
“All right. Reset.”
“No.”
“Sadie.”
“You get one proposal.”
“I haven’t proposed.”
“You nearly did.”
Poppy groaned.
“Can everybody stop talking?”
She opened the box herself.
“Mommy, will you marry Uncle Ronan so I can stop hiding this ring?”
Sadie stared.
Ronan stared at Poppy.
“That was my line.”
“You were too slow.”
Sadie laughed until she cried.
Then she looked at Ronan.
And whispered:
“Yes.”
But before Ronan could kiss her, Poppy added:
May you like
“Grandma says we need a prenup.”
From across the room, Eleanor raised both hands innocently.
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