Chapter 15 - The Betrayal in the Boardroom
Before Daniel could process her words, the deafening scream of high-caliber rifle fire shattered the stillness.
A round tore through the ballistic glass window behind Vanessa, missing her by inches and shattering the heavy oak dining table into splinters. Another bullet whistled through the cedar wall, forcing Daniel to dive toward the pantry, shielding Emily and Lily with his entire body as drywall and plaster rained down like shrapnel.
"Down! Stay down!" Daniel roared, covering Emily’s head as Lily began to wail in terror.
He expected Vanessa to detonate the house, but when he peered around the splintered frame, the balcony was empty. A rope ladder hung from the cliff edge, swaying wildly in the sea gale. Down below, an unmarked black tactical speedboat cut through the churning white waves, accelerating toward the open ocean.
"Daniel, who is Julian?!" Emily cried, her face streaked with tears as she clutched their screaming daughter. "Who was Eleanor talking to?!"
Daniel didn't answer. He couldn't. His phone suddenly buzzed violently—the auxiliary satellite emergency link installed in his watch. It was a video transmission from Arthur’s private Manhattan office.
Daniel tapped the screen. The video flickered to life.
Arthur was sitting behind his mahogany desk, but he wasn't alone. His glasses were knocked askew, blood dripping from his broken nose onto his pristine silk tie. Standing behind him was a tall, silver-haired man in an impeccably tailored charcoal suit, his face obscured by the dark shadows of the penthouse library.
"Daniel," Arthur choked out, trembling so hard his teeth clicked. "Forgive me... I had no choice. Eleanor... she had another son before your father married her. Julian isn't your uncle. He’s your half-brother. He was the secret heir all along."
"Arthur, what have you done?" Daniel growled through the screen.
"The entire Ashford offshore portfolio... forty billion dollars... it wasn't tied to your father’s will," Arthur wept, tears carving paths through the blood on his cheeks. "The grandfather clause states that if the legitimate heir dies without a male child, the entire fortune reverts to Eleanor’s eldest living bloodline. They don't just want Emily dead, Daniel... they need Lily dead. Or Julian’s bloodline takes everything."
The silver-haired man behind Arthur slowly reached out, placing a gloved hand on Arthur’s shoulder. In his other hand was a silenced pistol.
"You talked too much, Arthur," the man said. His voice was smooth, cultured, chillingly reminiscent of Daniel’s own tone.
May you like
*Thump.*
A single muffled shot punched through the back of Arthur’s head. The lawyer slumped forward onto the mahogany desk, knocking over an antique lamp as the video feed went black.
