Chapter 4 - The Masked Intruder
I shoved Maya and Liam behind me, my heart hammering violently against my ribs.
Julian stood amidst the broken glass, pointing the metal crowbar at my face.
"Julian, you are insane!" I screamed, shielding my children.
"Give me the hard drive, and nobody gets hurt," he demanded, taking a threatening step forward.
Mr. Harrison immediately stepped between us, puffing out his chest.
"You are committing an armed home invasion, Julian," the lawyer warned calmly.
"If you don't leave right now, you will spend the rest of your life in a federal prison."
Julian laughed maliciously, raising the crowbar higher.
"I will take my chances," he sneered, lunging toward us.
Without thinking, I grabbed a heavy brass lamp from my nightstand and swung it with all my might.
The heavy base connected squarely with Julian’s shoulder, sending him crashing into the dresser.
He groaned in pain, dropping the crowbar onto the wooden floor with a loud clang.
Mr. Harrison kicked the weapon under the bed and pinned Julian down.
"Call the police, Clara!" Mr. Harrison yelled, struggling to hold my frantic husband.
I pulled out my phone and dialed 911, my fingers shaking uncontrollably.
Julian ripped off his mask, his face twisted in pure desperation.
"Clara, wait!" he pleaded, his arrogant tone entirely gone.
"If you call the cops, Chloe will execute the second will!"
I paused, my thumb hovering over the call button.
"What second will?" I demanded, glaring down at him.
Julian gasped for air under Mr. Harrison's weight.
"Eleanor didn't just leave a will for you," he coughed.
"Chloe is Eleanor’s estranged step-daughter, and she has a handwritten will dated a week before your aunt died."
My blood ran cold as the puzzle pieces finally clicked together.
Chloe didn't just target Julian because he was wealthy.
She targeted him to get close to me, to monitor my inheritance, and to steal it.
"If I go to jail, Chloe takes the money, the skyscraper, and this house," Julian confessed.
"We have to work together, Clara, or we both lose everything."
I stared at the pathetic man bleeding on my carpet, feeling a wave of absolute disgust.
"I don't make deals with terrorists," I spat, and I pressed the call button.
As the police sirens wailed in the distance, Julian smiled a bloody, sinister smile.
"You should have made the deal, Clara."
May you like
He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small remote control.
"Because Chloe is already inside Vance Tower, and she just initiated a hostile takeover."
