January 6, 2026 – Indiana State Line The Alchemist's Facility Time: 3:00 a.m.
The dim light in the Alchemist's room cast shadows on my face as it bounced off the rusty scalpels on the table. But the shadows in my mind were darker. Thomas's last words on the bridge were coursing through my veins like poison.
"You only pushed him, Michael. But he was still breathing. I finished him off."
The heavy burden of guilt I had carried for fifteen years turned out to be a loop skillfully woven by Thomas Hale. By convincing Michael Hale he was a murderer, he silenced Richard, eliminated the D'Angelo family heir, plunged the mafia into chaos, and enslaved us—his own family—to him for life. Three birds with one stone... He turned my father into an accomplice, me into a pawn, and Elara into a hostage.
"That fucking genius..." I muttered. My hands were shaking, but not from fear, from pure rage at having fallen victim to such a despicable plan.
The Alchemist was preparing the anesthetic needle while looking at me. "Thomas Hale is a strategist, Michael. He didn't end up on that bridge by accident that night. He knew Vince would die, that you would push him. He just waited for the right moment. Vince had to die so that the D'Angelo empire would weaken, and he could fill that void as Asher Burke."
"Did my father know this?" I asked, my voice cracking.
"By the time Richard understood, it was too late," said the Alchemist. "He made a deal with Thomas to save you. Your guilt was the price for your father's silence. Thomas branded you a murderer so you could never defy him."
Time: 04:30
Farewell and Destruction
Ivy stood in the doorway, watching me with her usual dark, yearning gaze. But for Natalia and Elara, this was the end. To protect them, they had to forget Michael Hale completely.
"You must go," I told Natalia. She couldn't speak; only the tears streaming from her eyes told the story.
"Michael, this is suicide," Natalia said. "You can't fight that man alone."
"I'm not alone anymore, Natalia. I have fifteen years of rage and my uncle's dirty tricks by my side." I squeezed Natalia's hand one last time. "Take Elara. Tell her that her brother really died on the bridge that night. Because the man who will leave this table will have no connection to her."
When Natalia took Elara and disappeared into the darkness, I felt like the last light in my life had gone out. Now there was only me, Ivy, and the monster of vengeance inside me.
Time: 06:00
A New Face, an Old Hatred
The Alchemist put on his surgical mask. "I'll ask you one last time, Michael. Do you want to die as Michael Hale, or be reborn as Asher Burke's nightmare?"
"Michael Hale died that night on the bridge when he finished off Thomas Vince," I said. "Now just create the man who will collect that debt."
As the anesthetic seeped into my veins, I thought of the explosion on the highway, the burning bridge, and my father's grave blown to pieces. Thomas Hale had sacrificed us for nothing. But he forgot one thing: nothing has nothing to lose.
As my eyes closed, Thomas's disgusting hourglass came to life in my mind. But this time, the grains of sand were flowing upward. Time would not rewind, but the moment of reckoning was drawing nearer with every second.
"I am the debt you can never repay, Thomas,"I murmured as my consciousness faded."And I am coming for interest."