CHAPTER TWO HUNDRED AND SIXTY – A NEWBORN

Within a matter of days, Maverick's entire life's work lay in ruins, his reputation utterly obliterated by his own unchecked hubris and depravity. He had become the very freak show exhibit he'd so zealously strived to create. As the drama continued unfolding in the court of public opinion, Kayla found herself an unlikely linchpin around which the survivors' fractured dynamics began to coalesce. Her act of bravery had blown away the artificial divisions Maverick sought to manufacture between them, allowing a sense of solidarity to take root. It was Sarah who first bridged that gap, seeking Kayla out with an adamant look in her eyes. "You did it," she said in a voice tinged with wonderment. "You actually took that smug monster down and got justice for all of us." Kayla managed a weary smile, the exhilaration of her coup still thrumming through her veins. "I had to. After everything he put us through, there was no way I could let him get away with exploiting our trauma like that." "We