Chapter 1196:

🍙 🍙 🍙 🍙 🍙

Claire watched the room seal tight. She slipped off her mask, revealing a face once lovely, now warped by vengeance. Stroking the detonator in her hand, she whispered, “Millard, do you see? Today, we make them pay.” Her fingers grazed the bomb’s trigger, her eyes distant, lost in memory. “The Barnetts — none will walk out alive. They’ll join you in the grave.”

“Claire,” Rodger’s voice cut through, calm as a still pond. “Did you think I’d come empty-handed? Let’s end this together —”

Before she could respond, Rodger’s wrist flicked. A glint of light sliced through the air.

Thin ceramic blades, hidden in his palm, flashed under the dim light — nearly invisible as they flew. They cut clean, severing three of Claire’s fingers from the hand clutching the detonator.

She screamed, blood spraying across her twisted face. Yet her madness burned brighter than the pain. She forced her left hand up and aimed the gun at Kaelyn’s forehead.

“If I go down, you’re coming with me!”

In a flash, Landen — still chained — lunged forward and slammed into Claire with every ounce of strength he had. A gunshot rang out, its echo slamming off the cramped walls. The bullet skimmed Kaelyn’s ear and lodged in the wall, leaving a shallow gash along her cheek.

At the same moment, two masked figures in the shadows raised their weapons and fired.

“Rodger!” Landen called out.

Rodger moved like a phantom, dodging with uncanny precision. Even so, three bullets found their mark — one grazed his side, another pierced his shoulder, and the deadliest sank into his abdomen. Blood soaked through his coat, blooming across the floor like a dark rose.

He grunted, blood dripping from his lips. With one final surge, he hurled his last blades. They flashed through the air, and both masked men collapsed, clutching their throats as blood poured out.

𝗝о𝗶ո 𝘁𝗁e 𝘤𝗈𝗺𝗺𝘶𝗇𝗂𝘵𝘆 𝖺𝘁 𝗴𝗮𝘭𝘯𝗈𝘷𝘦𝗅𝘀.c𝘰m
As Claire scrambled for her gun, the basement shook with a deafening roar.

Boom.

A controlled blast tore the iron door apart, and light flooded in like a blade driven through the dark. Dewitt charged in with a SWAT team, arriving just in time to see Rodger drop to one knee, shielding Kaelyn from the spray of flying debris.

“Get the medics — now!”

Claire lay in a pool of her own blood, staring at her ruined hand. A crazed laugh spilled from her lips. “Rodger… you can’t save them all.”

In the chaos, Kaelyn broke free and rushed to Rodger’s side. His trembling, bloodied hand reached up for her tear-streaked face and gently wiped a tear away.

“Don’t cry,” he whispered, a faint smile breaking through the pain. “I promised you… another honeymoon awaits.”

Rodger gripped his stomach, blood oozing between his fingers and painting Kaelyn’s white dress with a stark red stain. The warmth of it seeped through — a cruel contrast to the cold air around them.

Claire’s blood-stained fingertips trembled slightly. She stared at the iron door the SWAT team had forced open, and the madness in her eyes suddenly extinguished, replaced by a dead, gray emptiness.

Defeat had claimed her.

But even in her loss, she burned with a final desire to leave the Barnett family in unbearable sorrow.

In one sudden move, she ripped the dagger from her shoulder, its blade catching the light in a sorrowful arc. Without a second thought, she lunged at Angelica — the closest target.

“Angelica!” Landen’s scream tore through the air, his chains rattling as he fought to break free — but he was too late.

The dagger sank into Angelica’s chest, blood blooming across her white wedding dress. She stumbled back, her eyes wide, yet a soft smile curved her lips. “Landen…” Her voice was barely a whisper as she collapsed.

At that same moment, Dewitt burst through the door and fired a single shot. The bullet struck Claire’s forehead with deadly precision.

.

.

.