Chapter 9 - The Ultimate Betrayal
The cold steel blade bit slightly into my skin, forcing me to freeze completely as Adrian gripped my hair from behind.
He hissed in my ear that if he could not blow up the church, he would at least have the satisfaction of slitting my throat.
I prepared myself for the absolute worst, closing my eyes and silently praying that Lily would somehow manage to escape.
A deafening gunshot suddenly shattered the tense silence of the small stone room, leaving my ears ringing violently.
The agonizing pressure of the knife against my throat instantly vanished as Adrian's grip went completely slack.
He collapsed heavily to the dirt floor, clutching a massive, bleeding wound in his right shoulder while screaming in absolute agony.
I spun around, fully expecting to see the federal backup team finally arriving to save us from this nightmare.
Instead, Celeste stood at the entrance of the corridor, holding a smoking silver revolver with perfectly steady hands.
She looked down at her bleeding son with an expression of pure, unfiltered disgust, completely devoid of any maternal love.
She coldly stated that Adrian had always been a weak, pathetic disappointment who lacked the vision to properly manage their empire.
Celeste explained that she had secretly transferred a hidden reserve of fifty million dollars to a private account before the virus hit.
She fully intended to murder Adrian and blame the entire explosive plot on his unstable, psychotic breakdown.
She turned the barrel of the revolver directly toward me, her fake, aristocratic smile returning to her flawless face.
She calmly announced that she would kill me and my sister, staging the scene to look like a tragic murder-suicide orchestrated by her son.
I lunged forward with desperate, reckless speed, completely ignoring the deadly weapon aimed squarely at my chest.
I tackled her to the cold stone floor, my hands desperately grasping for the heavy revolver as we violently struggled.
Celeste fought with terrifying, adrenaline-fueled strength, viciously clawing at my face and pulling my hair.
She managed to twist her wrist upward, forcing the barrel of the gun directly beneath my chin.
May you like
She smiled wickedly, her finger tightening firmly on the trigger to end my life once and for all.
A loud, echoing gunshot rang out in the confined space, instantly painting the ancient stone walls with a mist of dark, crimson blood.
