PAIGE
I took a shaky breath. The corporate takeover felt almost clean compared to what came next. "But that wasn't all, Leon. When we got back yesterday evening... Denki showed up here."
Leon's jaw dropped. "Here? To the lion's den? After everything? The balls on that guy!"
"Not balls," I corrected, my voice going quiet. "Desperation. He was... covered in blood, Leon. Payton's blood."
I watched the color drain from his face. I told him everything. The gun in Shunsuke's study, the screaming, the way our father had called Denki a "useless adopted rat" and aimed to kill him. I described the part that still made my stomach clench—how Payton, my vain, selfish sister, had moved without thinking, putting herself in the path of the bullet meant for Denki.
"And then," I whispered, the image seared into my mind, "Shunsuke... he turned the gun on her. On his golden child. He was going to shoot her, too, just for getting in the way."
