Chapter 8 - The Queen's Gambit
Vanessa locked her arm securely around the baby’s incubator, pressing the sharp scalpel directly against the thin plastic shell.
"Take one step toward me, Dominic, and I will shatter this glass," Vanessa warned, her eyes wide with madness.
Dominic froze in place, his hands slowly rising in a desperate gesture of surrender.
"You want the offshore accounts, Vanessa, I will give you everything," Dominic pleaded, his voice entirely broken.
Vanessa laughed bitterly, shaking her head as she looked down at the fragile infant.
"I don't just want your money, Dominic, I want you to feel the pain of losing everything," she spat.
Carrie’s heart monitor suddenly spiked, the rapid beeping cutting through the tension in the room.
Carrie’s eyes fluttered open, the heavy anesthesia wearing off just enough for her to comprehend the nightmare.
She turned her head weakly, locking eyes with the woman who had worn her robe and ruined her life.
"Vanessa," Carrie rasped, her voice barely a whisper through her dry throat.
Vanessa looked at the helpless, bleeding woman on the operating table with absolute disgust.
"Look at you, pathetic and weak until the very end," Vanessa taunted.
Carrie slowly turned her gaze toward her husband, who was kneeling helplessly on the floor.
"Dominic, the envelope," Carrie commanded weakly, her eyes flashing with a sudden, fierce intelligence.
Dominic remembered the manila envelope his mother had given Carrie at the motel.
He reached into Carrie’s discarded handbag on a nearby chair and pulled out the legal documents.
"Read the first page to her," Carrie ordered, taking a slow, agonizing breath.
Dominic unfolded the papers, his eyes widening in shock as he read the official corporate transfer.
"Effective immediately, Caroline Whitaker Marino holds fifty-one percent controlling interest in Marino Holdings and all subsidiary shell corporations," Dominic read aloud.
Vanessa’s confident smile faltered for the first time, confusion washing over her beautiful features.
"That means nothing, I can still force you to transfer the funds," Vanessa snapped defensively.
Carrie managed a faint, bloodless smile from the operating table.
"I already transferred them, Vanessa," Carrie whispered, her voice gaining a fraction of strength.
"I used my laptop at the motel to wire every single cent of the Volkov cartel’s laundered money directly to the FBI."
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Vanessa’s face drained of all color as she realized her entire criminal family had just been completely bankrupted.
She was so distracted by the revelation that she didn't notice Margaret stepping quietly behind her with a loaded syringe.
