Chapter 7 - The True Heir
I hit the floor hard, covering my head as a shower of broken glass rained down across the library carpet.
The deafening roar of the explosion was immediately followed by the shrieking wail of the estate’s fire alarms.
Eleanor crawled over to me, her impeccable clothes covered in dust, and pulled me toward the heavy mahogany desk for cover.
Marcus Thorne had promised that the mansion would burn if his demands were not met, and he was clearly a man of his word.
Thick, acrid smoke began pouring under the locked library doors, filling the room with a suffocating gray haze.
We could hear the panicked screams of the dinner guests echoing from the grand hallway as they desperately trampled each other to escape.
I realized that Daniel and Patricia had likely abandoned everyone, using the chaos to make their cowardly getaway.
I grabbed a heavy brass bookend from the desk and smashed it against the already broken window frame to clear the jagged edges.
I helped Eleanor climb through the shattered window, dropping safely onto the soft grass of the estate lawns.
The night sky was illuminated by towering orange flames consuming the entire west wing of the massive house.
We ran toward the thick tree line at the edge of the property, desperate to put distance between us and the burning structure.
As we reached the shadows of the ancient oak trees, a harsh spotlight suddenly clicked on, blinding us completely.
Two armed men in tactical gear stepped out from the darkness, leveling suppressed assault rifles directly at our chests.
Marcus Thorne walked slowly into the circle of light, looking completely unbothered by the blazing inferno he had just created.
He smiled at Eleanor, greeting his half-sister with a twisted, mocking bow.
Marcus then looked at me, his cold eyes calculating my exact value in his deadly game of revenge.
He casually informed us that Daniel had successfully fled the property through an underground panic tunnel.
However, Daniel had foolishly taken the fake cubic zirconia necklace with him, believing it was his ticket to freedom.
Marcus ordered his armed men to secure Eleanor in the back of a waiting armored SUV.
He then grabbed my arm with brutal force, dragging me toward a separate, unmarked black sedan.
I fought back wildly, kicking and screaming, but his grip was like absolute iron.
Marcus leaned in close to my ear and whispered his horrifying true intention.
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He wasn't going to kill me; he was going to use my forensic accounting skills to legally transfer the remaining trust funds into his own name.
And if I refused to cooperate, he promised to mail Daniel a very specific, undeniable piece of my anatomy.
