January 5, 2026 – Dawson Bridge Time: 00:05
The spotlights blinded my eyes, but my mind was as clear as the concrete barrier beneath the icy waters. My uncle Thomas Hale stood before me, slowly turning the hourglass in his hand. As the sand flowed from the hourglass, my life flowed away with it.
To my right, Carter's snipers' lasers scanned my chest, while to my left, Luca D'Angelo played with the trigger with a disgusting smirk.
"Look, nephew," Thomas said, raising his voice against the wind. "I always told your father:'Weakness is the greatest sin a man can have.Richard made you weak by protecting you. I, however, am setting you free by bringing you to this bridge. Now drop the gun and die like a Hale."
"Fuck you, Uncle," I said, and Thomas frowned slightly at the coldness in my voice. "There was one more thing my father taught me. If everyone is watching you, show them something they don't want to see."
I sent three short signals with my radio. This was the "burn everything" order I gave to Ivy.
Time: 00:10
Under the Bridge and the Explosion
Just as Carter was about to give the "Fire!" command, the thermite bombs we had placed at the bridge's pillars, connected to Chicago's main gas line, exploded simultaneously.
BOOM! BOOM!
The bridge shook like an earthquake. The asphalt cracked, and massive steel cables began whipping through the air like lashes. The spotlights exploded, and the area was once again plunged into pitch blackness and the horror of orange flames. Chaos was my home.
I lowered my night vision goggles. When the world turned green, I saw Luca's men firing at each other in panic. Carter was calling for backup on his radio. Thomas, however... He was still there, standing motionless in the middle of the flames.
"Michael! Come here!"
From below, from the water, I heard Natalia's voice. She and Ivy had come in a boat, right under the bridge. But I couldn't go to them. Not yet.
I threw myself on top of Thomas. As I pinned him to the ground and wrapped my arms around his neck, fifteen years of rage coursed through my fingers. "Why?" I yelled. "Why did you sell my father out? Why did you throw us into this hell?"
Thomas laughed even as I squeezed his throat. The blood flowing from his mouth looked black in the light of the flames. "Because Richard was a coward, Michael! That night, you didn't kill Vince D'Angelo, I did! Your father only hid the body to save his son. But the real killer, the one with Hale's blood on his hands, was me... Not you!" "You just pushed him, Michael. But he was still breathing. I finished him off."
This truth hit my brain like a bullet. I wasn't the killer. My father was just an accomplice; a victim trying to protect his son.
Time: 00:20
The Road of No Return
Luca D'Angelo burst out of the smoke and opened fire on us. One of the bullets grazed my shoulder. I left Thomas behind, rolled away, and fired a single bullet into Luca's forehead.
Puff.
Luca's body fell through the bridge's shattered barriers and sank into the dark waters of Lake Michigan. Chicago's biggest mafia heir had met his end where he began: on Dawson Bridge.
"Michael! The bridge is collapsing! Jump now!" Ivy shouted.
Thomas Hale stood up and brushed the dust off himself. "So you're leaving... But don't forget, Michael, this isn't over. I'm your shadow. Wherever you go, that hourglass will keep ticking for you."
Thomas walked toward the burning sections of the bridge and disappeared into the smoke. I threw myself from a height of fifty meters into the lake's icy waters.
Time: 02:00
Open Sea – Escape Boat
When I surfaced, Ivy and Natalia pulled me onto the boat. My body was frozen, I was covered in blood, but I was alive. Ivy wrapped a blanket around me, her hands trembling. Suddenly, she pulled me close and cupped my face in her hands.
I paused suddenly, my hand involuntarily going to my chest. Natalia frowned: "That pain again?" I smiled slightly, having mastered the art of masking the pain. "Just a momentary flutter," I said.
"I thought you were going to die," Ivy said, her eyes wild, dark with admiration. "If you had died there, I would have destroyed this city."
Michael looked into Ivy's eyes. Her obsession was no longer a tool, but a burden. Natalia stood at the helm, silently staring at the horizon. Chicago was over for her; she had left her badge, her career, everything behind on that bridge.
"What now?" Natalia asked without looking back.
Michael took out the small hourglass he had stolen from Thomas."Now we change the game,"Michael said."Thomas Hale thinks he owns the shadows. I'll show him that even shadows have something to fear."