Chapter 10
Z
The room erupted into chaos.
Victoria Sterling’s security guards immediately raised their weapons, but Major Miller and Ethan opened fire with lethal precision. Two suppressed gunshots echoed through the high-ceilinged library, dropping the bodyguards before they could pull their triggers.
DA Vance lunged for a laptop sitting on the massive mahogany desk, intending to smash the drive.
I vaulted over a sofa, tackled her to the floor, and pinned her arms behind her back, driving my knee directly into her spine just as Ethan had done in the bank.
"It’s over, Vance!" I yelled, snatching the laptop away with my free hand. "The entire transaction, including your order to execute my mother in jail, was just broadcast live to the Department of Justice!"
Victoria Sterling backed away slowly toward the glass balcony doors, holding a small silver detonator in her hand. Her hair was disheveled, her cold composure finally shattered.
"You think you won, Claire?" Victoria sneered, her voice trembling with manic rage. "This entire house is rigged with thermite charges! If I press this button, every server, every piece of evidence, and all four of us go up in flames!"
"Put the detonator down, Victoria," Ethan said, stepping forward, his rifle aimed directly at her chest. "You’re out of options."
"I’d rather die than spend the rest of my life in a federal supermax!" she screamed, her thumb hovering over the red trigger.
Before she could press it, a loud, metallic CRACK echoed through the room.
Victoria’s eyes widened in disbelief as a bullet hole appeared in the center of her chest. She stumbled backward, crashing through the glass balcony doors, and fell into the dark, rain-swept darkness below.
Standing in the doorway of the library, holding a smoking police revolver, was my mother.
Her clothes were soaked, her face pale, and her hands shaking uncontrollably. She had escaped from custody during the transfer process using the very contacts she thought were her allies.
"Mom...?" I whispered, staring at her in complete shock.
My mother dropped the gun, the heavy metal clattering against the hardwood floor. She looked at me, tears streaming down her face, mixing with the rain dripping from her hair.
"She was going to kill you, Claire..." my mother sobbed, her voice breaking into agonizing gasps. "She killed your father... and she was going to kill you..."
"You killed Dad," I said, my voice cold, uncompromising, despite the chaos around us. "I saw the video, Beatrice. I know everything."
My mother froze, the despair in her eyes deepening into a hollow, empty void. She realized that no matter what she did, the truth had finally exposed her.
Sirens wailed in the distance—dozens of federal tactical vehicles tearing up the driveway, their red and blue lights illuminating the rain-streaked windows of the mansion. The Department of Justice had received the broadcast.
Ethan walked over to DA Vance, pulling her off the floor and clicking heavy federal handcuffs around her wrists. Major Miller secured the primary server drive, giving me a solid nod of respect.
My mother slowly sank to her knees on the floor, raising her hands in surrender as FBI tactical officers flooded into the room, their flashlights cutting through the smoke.
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I stood beside Ethan, leaning into his shoulder as he wrapped a warm arm around me.
The battle for my home, my family, and my life was finally over. The estate, the money, and the dark legacy of my father’s past were destroyed, but as I looked out at the breaking dawn over the horizon, I knew that for the first time in my life, I was truly free.
