Chapter 18 - Protect the Silent
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A thunderous gunshot shattered the room.
Briggs’s eyes widened in sudden, absolute shock. He dropped his revolver, looking down at the massive hole blown through his chest, before falling forward onto his face.
Behind him stood Wesley Cain, smoke rising from the barrel of his heavy handgun. His face was covered in soot and blood, his shirt torn, but his eyes were blazing with a divine, terrifying fury.
He dropped the gun, stepping over Briggs’s body, and rushed straight toward Ruth.
He grabbed her shoulders, pulling her against his chest in a tight, desperate embrace.
“Are you hurt?” Wesley breathed heavily into her hair, his heart pounding furiously against her cheek. “Did he touch you?”
“I’m... I’m fine,” Ruth gasped, burying her face in his neck, the adrenaline finally leaving her body as she began to tremble uncontrollably. “Norah is safe under the desk.”
Wesley released Ruth, dropping to his knees beside the desk, pulling his weeping sister out into his arms.
“I’m here, Norah,” Wesley whispered, holding her tightly, tears finally breaking through his hard exterior as he kissed the top of her head. “I’m here. It’s over.”
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Norah wrapped her thin arms around her brother’s neck, weeping silently against his shoulder, while Ruth watched them from the doorway, wiping her own tears away.
The house was ruined, blood was spilled across the marble floors, but the wall Wesley had built to protect his family had finally held true—not because of violence or money, but because of the fierce, unyielding devotion of a maid who refused to stay silent.
