Chapter 7 - The Master Stroke
I stared at the glowing phone screen in absolute disbelief, my hands shaking so violently I could barely hold the device.
Julian had not killed Chloe in the cabin garage like Maya had maliciously claimed just an hour ago.
He had somehow murdered her beforehand, planted her body in my home, and used a body double in the SUV to trick me.
The woman who saved me at the bank was nothing more than an actress paid to drive me directly into Maya's deadly trap.
Julian had meticulously orchestrated every single detail to ensure I would be branded a fugitive murderer if his assassins somehow failed.
"He wants you completely discredited so that nobody will believe a word you say about his corporate fraud," Leo explained calmly.
The strategy was sickeningly brilliant, effectively destroying my reputation, my freedom, and my life in one single stroke.
"If I go to the authorities now, they will lock me in a cell and Julian will have me killed before I even see a judge," I realized out loud.
Leo nodded, steering the heavy truck onto a paved, deserted highway leading back toward the city limits.
"The only way to clear your name is to destroy his empire publicly before he has the chance to liquidate the assets and disappear."
He told me that Julian had scheduled an emergency shareholder meeting for tomorrow morning at the main corporate headquarters.
Julian planned to finalize the sale of the entire company to the criminal syndicate, taking billions of dollars in untraceable cryptocurrency.
If he signed those transfer documents, the company would be gone, and Leo and I would be hunted for the rest of our lives.
"We have the ledger from Eleanor's vault, which proves his money laundering, but we need his physical signature to authorize a freeze on the sale," Leo said.
I looked at him like he had completely lost his mind.
"You want us to walk into a building filled with armed mercenaries and a board of directors who are likely in on the scam?" I asked.
"No, I want you to walk in there alone and distract him while I hack the mainframe from the security control room," Leo corrected.
It was a suicide mission, but running away meant living in constant, terrifying fear until Julian eventually found me.
I owed it to Eleanor, and to myself, to ensure this monster never ruined another life again.
"Fine," I agreed, checking the magazine of the handgun Leo had given me earlier. "We hit them tomorrow morning."
We spent the rest of the night parked in an abandoned warehouse, formulating a flawless plan to bypass the building's heavy security.
When the sun finally began to rise, casting a bloody red light over the Boston skyline, I felt a strange sense of calm.
We drove to the towering glass skyscraper, and I confidently stepped out of the truck wearing a disguise we had salvaged.
I walked through the revolving doors, keeping my head down as I approached the massive security checkpoint.
I handed the guard a forged identification card, holding my breath as he scanned it through the electronic reader.
The machine beeped green, and the guard smiled, handing the card back to me without a second glance.
I walked toward the elevators, thinking our impossible plan was actually going to work.
May you like
Suddenly, a cold, metallic barrel pressed firmly against the base of my spine, stopping me dead in my tracks.
"Did you really think I wouldn't recognize my own wife?" Julian whispered menacingly directly into my ear.
