Chapter 4: The Horizon
Wind swept across the rooftop helipad of Sterling Tower.
Vance's tie whipped over his shoulder as helicopters droned somewhere beyond the skyline.
Inside the penthouse behind them, movers packed the final boxes.
Richard and Eleanor had been given exactly one hour to leave.
The empire they had tried to steal had collapsed in less than a day.
Leo stepped onto the rooftop with both hands tucked into the pockets of a comfortable jacket.
He gazed across the endless city stretching toward the horizon.
Every building.
Every light.
Every street below.
It all belonged to him now.
Vance stood nearby, instinctively watching every entrance and every rooftop around them.
Old habits never disappeared.
"They're really gone?"
Leo never took his eyes off the skyline.
"They're gone."
Vance answered quietly.
"And if they ever come back..."
"They'll have to get through me first."
For the first time in months...
Leo smiled.
Not the cautious smile of a frightened child.
A real one.
Warm.
Free.
He reached into his pocket and removed a small, heavy gold coin.
His father's lucky coin.
Holding it carefully, he extended it toward Vance.
Vance looked at the coin.
Then at the boy.
He didn't accept it.
Instead, he gently folded Leo's fingers back around it with one large, weathered hand.
"Keep it."
His voice softened.
"You're the one in charge now."
Leo closed his hand around the coin.
The fear that had haunted him for the past year finally began to fade.
He turned back toward the horizon.
The weight of an empire still rested on his shoulders.
But for the first time...
he didn't have to carry it alone.
Vance stepped beside him, folded his arms, and stood watch over the city like a silent guardian.
The heir was safe.
The mission was complete.
May you like
But the Sterling legacy...
was only beginning.
