Chapter 14 - SERENA'S LAST REQUEST Ethan was eight when Serena sent her final request.
She was dying.
She wanted to see him.
Isabella said no.
Victor hesitated.
Lily watched him.
“Why?”
“She is still his aunt.”
“She hurt him.”
Victor closed his eyes.
“Yes.”
Ethan was old enough to answer for himself.
They explained that Serena wanted to see him.
He shook his head.
“I don't want to.”
Nobody forced him.
Serena sent a letter instead.
It remained sealed.
Ethan could open it when he was old enough.
Serena died months later.
There was no celebration.
No grand forgiveness.
No dramatic reconciliation.
Just an ending.
Victor was released from prison under strict supervision.
No private security command.
No corporate authority.
No weapons.
No empire.
He lived in a modest apartment.
He learned to cook.
Badly.
Ethan laughed the first time he tasted Victor's pasta.
It was too salty.
Victor looked offended.
Isabella laughed.
For a moment, they looked like an ordinary family.
May you like
But ordinary did not mean perfect.
It meant honest.
