I frowned.
“Decide what?”
“Whether you burn everything down.”
The tunnel echoed quietly beneath Manhattan.
I stared at the drives in my hands.
Power.
Truth.
Enough corruption exposed to shake the country.
And suddenly I understood the real danger.
Not Matthew.
Not Mercer.
The system itself.
Rachel spoke softly beside me.
“What do we do?”
Before I could answer, alarms sounded from deeper inside the tunnel.
The CIA man cursed.
“They found us.”
Mercer’s voice echoed through loudspeakers.
“There’s nowhere left to run.”
Matthew stood slowly despite the blood loss.
“Take Olivia and the drives.”
“No,” I said instantly.
“Yes.”
His eyes met mine.
And for the first time in years…
There were no lies inside them.
Only regret.
“I’m sorry,” he whispered.
Then he kissed my forehead gently.
Like goodbye.
And walked toward the darkness alone.
“Matthew!”
He didn’t stop.
Mercer’s tactical teams stormed the tunnel seconds later.
Gunfire erupted again.
The former CIA agents returned fire.
Chaos swallowed everything.
Rachel dragged me backward while Eleanor carried her daughter.
But I kept watching Matthew.
He walked directly toward Mercer.
Unarmed.
Bleeding.
Finished running.
Mercer raised his gun.
“You should’ve disappeared when you had the chance.”
Matthew smiled faintly.
“You first.”
Then suddenly—
Every screen inside the tunnel lit up.
Phones.
Tablets.
Digital billboards above Manhattan.
News alerts everywhere.
The files.
Someone had released everything.
Atlas accounts.
Politicians.
Bribes.
Murders.
Trafficking routes.
Every secret exploded onto the internet simultaneously.
Mercer stared upward in horror.
“What did you do?”
Matthew laughed weakly.
“Insurance policy.”
Sirens erupted across the city above us.
Then FBI agents started lowering their weapons.
Confused.
Panicked.
