Chapter 5 - The Burden of Proof
Daniel froze entirely, the cold steel barrel of Chloe's pistol resting a mere inch from his sweating forehead.
"I absolutely did not poison Arthur, he offered me a massive promotion right before he collapsed!" Daniel pleaded defensively.
"My father is a good man, Chloe, he is completely innocent!" Sarah cried out from the back seat, trying desperately to reach for the gun.
Chloe kept her lethal weapon perfectly steady, entirely unfazed by the screaming mother and the terrified son.
"Marcus firmly testified to the police that you injected Arthur with a fast-acting neurotoxin while shaking his hand," Chloe stated coldly.
Daniel’s mind raced frantically, relying completely on the extensive medical knowledge he had acquired while working at the hospital.
"If I had used a contact neurotoxin, my own bare hands would have severe chemical burns right now," Daniel argued with brilliant logic.
He slowly raised his hands, presenting his perfectly clean, unblemished palms to the skeptical security chief.
Chloe visually inspected his hands for several agonizing seconds before slightly lowering the barrel of her weapon.
"Arthur’s gold phone was recording a highly encrypted video of the entire lobby interaction," Daniel added, pulling the device from his pocket.
He unlocked it using his face and pulled up the security footage, clearly showing Marcus deliberately bumping into Arthur and pricking him with a tiny needle.
Chloe watched the undeniable evidence, her rigid jaw clenching in absolute, murderous fury as she realized her massive failure.
She holstered her silver weapon and immediately started the armored SUV’s roaring engine, tearing violently out of the dark alleyway.
"Arthur has exactly three hours to live before that specific synthetic venom completely liquefies his internal organs," Chloe explained rapidly.
"Is there an antidote?" Daniel asked urgently, gripping the leather seat as the vehicle took a sharp, dangerous turn.
"Yes, but it is locked deep inside the Sterling subterranean medical vault, a facility explicitly designed to withstand a nuclear blast," Chloe replied.
She drove them dangerously fast toward an abandoned industrial district on the far outskirts of the sleeping city.
They arrived at a crumbling warehouse that secretly housed the heavily fortified entrance to Arthur's underground laboratory.
Chloe bypassed the outer security doors with her retinal scan, leading them into a pristine, glowing white corridor.
They finally reached a massive steel vault door that possessed no keyhole, no keypad, and absolutely no visible handle.
"The vault strictly requires a fresh blood sample from a direct, biological Sterling heir to open," Chloe revealed, turning to Sarah.
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Sarah slowly held up her trembling hands, showing the thick, horrifying burn scars covering every single one of her fingertips.
"Victor forcefully burned off all my fingerprints and damaged my veins years ago so I could never access my family's money," Sarah wept brokenly.
