Chapter 15 - The Confession
I froze, my hand hovering just inches above the keyboard. The progress bar silently hit ninety percent.
"Step away from the desk, Maya," Richard commanded, his voice devoid of any emotion.
I slowly raised my hands and took three deliberate steps backward, putting distance between myself and the laptop. Richard kept the gun leveled at my heart as he walked over to the desk and glanced at the screen. The purge completed, and the screen went completely black. The Genesis Protocol was gone.
Richard didn't yell. He didn't panic. He simply let out a low, dark chuckle that was far more terrifying than any scream.
"You always were too curious for your own good," Richard sighed, pulling the flash drive from the port and tossing it into a nearby trash can. "I suppose you found your father's medical file."
"You murdered him," I spat, dropping the polite facade entirely. "You used innocent people as lab rats for your poison, and when he figured it out, you executed him."
Richard leaned against the desk, looking at me with a twisted sense of admiration.
"It wasn't personal, Maya. It was progress," he reasoned smoothly. "The human trials were necessary to perfect the dosage. Your father was a casualty of scientific advancement. But look at what his sacrifice created. We have the power to eliminate the world's most dangerous people without leaving a single trace."
"You are a monster," I whispered, my hands balling into fists. "And your own brother tried to stop you."
"Ethan was a coward who couldn't stomach the reality of our industry," Richard sneered. "When my family tried to kill me, they gave me the perfect opportunity to clean house. I just needed a naive, credible witness to play the hero and hand them over to the authorities. You played your part beautifully, Maya."
"And now?" I challenged, staring down the barrel of his gun. "Are you going to shoot me and claim I was a corporate spy?"
"Shooting you is too messy," Richard said softly. "You see, Maya, I anticipated this little rebellion of yours. I know exactly how you operate."
He gestured to the champagne glass I had left sitting on a side table near the door.
May you like
"I slipped a refined, fast-acting variant of the Genesis toxin into your drink before you came upstairs," he revealed, a cruel smile returning to his face. "In exactly three minutes, you are going to suffer a massive, tragic aneurysm. The paramedics will find you here, the victim of a sudden medical emergency. I will play the grieving CEO, and the world will mourn the tragic loss of my heroic Vice President."
My vision suddenly blurred, and a sharp, blinding pain shot through the base of my skull. My knees buckled, and I collapsed onto the thick Persian rug.
