Chapter 5 – What the Silence Held
The rain had stopped by morning, but the city still wore its sadness in puddles and low clouds. Elias's office was unusually quiet. The hum of Mason's equipment, the scratch of pen on paper, and the occasional sigh were the only sounds breaking the stillness.
The hard drive recovered from the warehouse had revealed a treasure trove—bank transactions, bribery logs, encrypted communications—and names. Names of judges. Lawyers. Witnesses who had been bought or silenced.
And at the center of it all: Myra Solarin.
Amara sat at the edge of the conference table, her arms wrapped around her knees. Her body ached from the night before, but her mind was sharper than ever.
"I knew she was cold," she said quietly. "But this… She was funding entire cover-ups. Whole cases were manipulated."
Elias leaned against the wall, flipping through a printout of transactions. "She used a law firm as a front to funnel bribes. Hired private enforcers to intimidate witnesses. She wasn't just powerful. She was untouchable."
Liana stepped in with coffee for everyone. She was quieter today, eyes rimmed with fatigue. "I worked for her. Smiled for her campaigns. Wrote her speeches. God."
Amara looked up. "You didn't know, Liana."
"I should've," she whispered.
Mason swiveled his chair to face them. "We've got enough to crack open an investigation. But we have to be smart. We leak this wrong, she'll spin it. Make herself the victim. Pin everything on a fall guy."
Elias nodded. "We need someone credible to take this to the Ethics Board. Someone who can't be bought."
Amara's voice was soft. "Or someone with nothing left to lose."
They all turned to her.
She swallowed hard. "I'll do it. Publicly. With my name. My face. She already took everything from me. What's left to be afraid of?"
Elias crossed the room and sat beside her. "You'll be exposing yourself to danger, Amara. Myra doesn't play fair. Once we move, there's no going back."
Amara looked at him—really looked at him. "I already left back behind."
The room fell into silence for a moment, heavy with the weight of a choice made.
Later that afternoon, while Mason encrypted the files for safe delivery, Amara stepped into Elias's office alone. He was by the window again, watching the clouds roll over the city.
"She used to read to me," Amara said suddenly.
Elias turned. "Your aunt? Myra?"
"No. The other one. Aunt Ifeoma." Her voice softened. "She was warm. Loved poetry. Kept a garden full of hibiscus even when we could barely afford food. She taught me how to write. Told me stories about justice... and truth. She believed the truth always finds its way."
Elias didn't speak, just listened.
Amara blinked hard. "She died too suddenly, ... now I wonder if Myra had a hand in it. She was the only one who really stood between us."
Elias walked over, gently resting a hand on her shoulder. "Then let's find out. For her. For you."
There was a knock. Mason peeked in. "It's done. I sent the encrypted data to two investigative outlets. One's already called back. They're interested."
Amara nodded. "Then we wait."
But that night, before dawn could break, the waiting ended.
A brick crashed through the front window of Elias's firm, followed by a Molotov cocktail.
Flames erupted instantly. Screams from the street. Sirens howling seconds later.
The office was on fire.
Elias dragged Amara out the back, coughing and shielding her from sparks. Mason followed with the server backups. Liana showed up barefoot, having run the five blocks after getting Mason's text.
They stood across the street, watching everything burn.
"This was a warning," Elias said grimly. "From Myra. She knows we've made our move."
Amara stood tall despite the cold. The flames reflected in her eyes.
"Good," she said. "Then she knows we're not afraid."
The news hit the media less than twelve hours after the attack.
"EXPOSÉ: The Empire Behind Myra Solarin – Whistleblower Speaks Out."
"Legal Titan or Criminal Architect? Justice in the Balance."
Amara's face was on the screen—framed in a still from the recorded testimony Elias had helped her film. Calm. Strong. Unflinching. She told her story without embellishment, without fear. About her arrest. Her aunt. The things she had seen growing up that didn't make sense until now.
And just like that, the war was no longer in shadows.
It was public.
Myra released a statement the same day—cool and condescending.
"The accusations brought forward are unfounded, clearly the desperate attempt of a misguided young woman who has suffered personal tragedy. I trust the justice system will expose the truth."
But people were listening. And not everyone was on Myra's payroll.
In the ruins of Elias's firm, temporary lights buzzed overhead as workers cleared debris. Elias, Amara, Mason, and Liana stood among what was left.
"It's worse than we thought," Mason muttered. "One of the files wasn't just financial—it had a kill list. People who were threats. Most of them are dead now."
Amara's breath caught. "Is Aunt West on it?"
Mason nodded slowly.
"She had her killed," Amara said, voice cracking. "She really did it."
Elias stepped closer, fury dark in his eyes. "That confirms it. It's murder. And if we prove it—there's no climbing back from that."
They spent the next two days in hiding, coordinating with the journalists, preparing for retaliation. Myra filed a defamation suit, issued subpoenas, froze Elias's firm accounts. But it only fueled the fire.
Until the unexpected happened.
A knock at their safehouse door.
A man in his late forties stood there, eyes shadowed, wearing an old lawyer's pin on his lapel.
"I'm Daniel Umeh," he said. "I used to work for Myra. She had my son framed when I tried to leave."
Elias stepped forward. "Why are you here?"
"Because I have the last piece," Daniel said. "The original contract. The bribe order. The court audio. Myra's signature. Voice. All of it."
Everyone stared.
Amara found her voice first. "Why now?"
Daniel's eyes softened. "Because I saw your video. You reminded me of my wife—she believed in fighting even when the ground shakes. And because someone brave has to finish what Ifeoma started."
Amara blinked away the tears. She didn't even realize she'd started crying.
With Daniel's evidence, they moved fast. Elias handed it to the same media outlets, then directly to the Attorney General's office.
An arrest warrant was filed.
And just hours before it could be served—
Myra vanished.