Chapter 8 - The Countdown
"What do you mean, the FBI?" Marcus asked, his voice trembling.
"The deal was that if you voted Julian out, I would open the doors," Clara said, her voice dropping to a terrifying calm. "And I always keep my promises."
She pressed the master override button on her tablet.
Clank. Hiss.
The heavy steel shutters over the main windows slowly began to rise. The magnetic locks on the mahogany doors disengaged with a loud click.
Fresh air rushed into the suffocating Starlight Hall.
The billionaires surged toward the exit like a tidal wave, trampling over one another in a desperate bid for freedom. But as the heavy mahogany doors swung open, the crowd slammed to a halt.
Waiting for them on the other side of the doors was a barricade of flashing red and blue lights. Swat teams, FBI agents, and federal prosecutors had completely surrounded the Waldorf Estate.
"Nobody move! Keep your hands where we can see them!" a voice boomed through a police megaphone.
May you like
Clara had never planned on letting them get away. The moment the locked-room broadcast had started, she had live-streamed the entire event—the confessions, the bribes, the panic—directly to the servers of the Department of Justice.
They hadn't just confessed to her. They had confessed to the entire world.
