Chapter 20 - The Trigger Pulled
"Over my dead body," Julian said, stepping squarely in front of Elena, his body forming an impenetrable barrier between his wife and the monsters who had spawned him.
"That can easily be arranged, son," Edward said casually, gesturing with two fingers.
The two mercenaries raised their assault rifles, the red laser dots dancing across Julian’s chest and forehead. The silence in the abandoned ballroom was suffocating, heavy with decades of unresolved bloodshed, betrayal, and greed.
"Wait!" Elena screamed, stepping out from behind Julian’s shoulder, her eyes defiant, blazing with tears of pure rage. "You want the Vance legacy, Edward? You want the original patents to your stolen empire? You can't open that vault without my retinal scan and my blood. If you kill Julian, I swear to God I will plunge this knife into my own throat, and your billion-dollar empire will rot beneath these stones forever!"
Elena pulled a silver combat blade from her waist, pressing the edge against her carotid artery. A thin line of crimson bloomed against her pale skin.
Victoria’s breath caught. "Edward, stop! She’s serious! The vault seal will permanently incinerate the documents if she dies without authentication!"
Edward’s eyes narrowed into slits of deadly contemplation. He slowly reached inside his tailored trench coat and pulled out a gold-plated revolver—the very weapon used to execute Arthur Vance a quarter of a century ago.
"You have Arthur’s stubbornness, little girl," Edward whispered, taking a slow step toward them. "You think you hold the leverage? You forgot one detail. We don't need your eyes, Elena. We only need the blood of the Vance heir."
Edward’s cold eyes flicked toward the grand entrance doors.
Through the pouring rain, two more operatives marched into the foyer. In the arms of the lead operative was a small, bundled blanket—crying frantically into the cold, damp air.
"Leo!" Elena shrieked, her world shattering into a million pieces.
"No!" Julian roared, every ounce of reason snapping inside his mind.
Julian lunged forward, raising his gun to shoot his father directly through the skull.
At the exact same instant, Edward cocked the gold-plated revolver and pulled the trigger.
*BANG!*
A blinding flash lit the darkened ballroom. The deafening gunshot echoed off the ancient limestone walls, followed immediately by the sound of shattering glass and a horrifying, wet gasp of agony.
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A body crumpled heavily onto the blood-soaked marble floor.
Elena screamed, the rain outside drowning out the fading heartbeat as smoke curled into the freezing midnight air...
