Part 2: Three privileged college boys shattered my nineteen-year-old daughter’s jaw in six places, then laughed because they believed their families could buy her silence. K007

Later that evening, after Lily had gone to her room to finalize her draft, Evelyn found me in the garage. I was standing in front of a locked steel cabinet that I hadn't opened since the night at the university.

Inside were encrypted communication devices, tactical gear, and a suppressed sidearm.

"I hoped you would never have to open that cabinet again," Evelyn said softly from the doorway.

I didn't turn around.

"So did I. But Marcus Thorne threatened my wife. He put a target on my daughter’s back. I cannot protect you with stern words and a call to the police."

Evelyn walked up beside me, placing a gentle hand over mine, stopping me from reaching for the weapon.

"Dominic, look at me."

I turned to face her. Her eyes were fiercely intelligent, filled with nineteen years of survival instincts.

"If you take that gun, if you go back to being the Ghost and leave bodies in your wake, Thorne wins. He drags you back into the darkness. You promised me we would live in the light."

"How do I protect you in the light when the monsters operate in the dark?" I asked, the frustration bleeding into my voice.

"By fighting smarter," Evelyn said resolutely. "We dismantle his power. You and Vincent get that digital ledger. Lily publishes her article. We hand the financial evidence directly to the FBI task force that Elena Ruiz commands. We use the system to destroy him."

"It’s a massive risk. If we fail to get the ledger, the article goes live, and Thorne will retaliate with everything he has."

"Then we don't fail," Evelyn said, her grip on my hand tightening. "You told me the Ghost was gone. Prove it to me. Be Dominic Vale. Be a father who protects his family without losing his soul in the process."

I looked at the weapon in the cabinet. It was the easy way out. It was the solution I had relied on for two decades. I took a deep breath, gently closed the steel door, and locked it.

"Okay," I said, pulling her into an embrace. "We do it your way. No casualties. We bankrupt him, and we expose him."

"Thank you," she whispered against my chest.