Chapter 8 - The Ultimatum
I stared at the glowing screen in absolute, paralyzing horror.
Helen looked entirely terrified, heavily bound to the cold metal chair in a dark, windowless room.
She was completely innocent, just a sweet, elderly neighbor who had actively tried to help me when my own son betrayed me.
"You are a completely psychotic monster," I whispered aggressively, my hands shaking violently with pure, lethal rage.
Victoria Vance simply smiled, entirely unbothered by the harsh, accurate accusation.
"I am officially a highly successful businesswoman, Rachel," Victoria corrected smoothly, entirely walking back to her massive glass desk.
"I aggressively identify leverage, and I completely exploit it to entirely achieve my corporate goals."
She pulled a thick, official legal document from her desk drawer and slapped it aggressively onto the glass surface.
She casually tossed an expensive, heavy gold pen directly next to it.
"Sign the deed right now, and I will officially let your pathetic neighbor walk completely free," Victoria promised coldly.
I looked desperately at the live video feed of Helen, my heart hammering fiercely against my ribs.
I knew with absolute, terrifying certainty that Victoria was entirely lying.
Vanguard Developments was a massive, ruthless syndicate that absolutely never left any loose ends.
If I officially signed the deed, Victoria would aggressively murder both of us the exact second the ink was dry.
I needed to actively buy time and completely shift the power dynamic entirely back in my favor.
"How do I absolutely know you won't just violently kill her anyway?" I demanded aggressively, entirely refusing to touch the gold pen.
Victoria sighed heavily, clearly completely annoyed by my stubborn resistance.
"You absolutely don't have any other choice, Rachel."
"You are completely trapped in my heavily fortified building, entirely surrounded by dozens of armed mercenaries."
I took a slow, deep breath, entirely channeling the intense, cold military discipline I hadn't actively used in decades.
"Actually, Victoria, you are the one who is completely trapped," I stated smoothly.
Victoria completely froze, her arrogant smile faltering entirely for a fraction of a second.
"What are you aggressively talking about?" she demanded sharply.
"Did you honestly think I wouldn't officially set up a heavily encrypted dead man's switch before I actively started a war with a massive corporation?" I lied flawlessly, staring completely directly into her terrifying eyes.
"If I don't officially enter a secure code into my phone every twelve hours, a massive data dump is actively sent directly to the New York Times and the FBI."
Victoria’s face went entirely pale, absolutely terrified by the sheer, devastating possibility of massive exposure.
"You are completely bluffing," Marcus growled aggressively from the corner of the office, entirely stepping toward me.
"Am I?" I challenged smoothly, completely refusing to back down.
"The data dump actively includes every single corrupt wire transfer Daniel officially made to your massive shell companies, and the heavily encrypted audio files of you aggressively ordering local hits."
Victoria aggressively slammed her hands entirely down on the glass desk, completely furious.
"Check her securely for a phone, right now!" Victoria roared aggressively at Marcus.
Marcus violently grabbed me, entirely searching my jacket and pockets with aggressive, invasive force.
"She is completely clean, boss," Marcus reported, entirely confused.
"I officially left it heavily secured in a hidden location," I stated coldly.
"If you aggressively kill me or Helen, you will completely lose everything you have ever built."
Victoria stared intensely at me for a very long, heavily agonizing minute.
She was a ruthless, calculating CEO, and she entirely realized the massive risk was completely too high.
"Bring the pathetic neighbor completely to this office, right now," Victoria commanded Marcus coldly.
Marcus nodded aggressively, completely leaving the room to retrieve Helen.
"You will officially sign the deed the exact second she walks entirely through that door, Rachel," Victoria warned aggressively.
"And then you will officially take me directly to that hidden phone."
I nodded slowly, entirely knowing I had absolutely no phone and zero leverage left once Helen arrived.
Ten minutes later, the heavy office door aggressively opened.
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But it wasn't Marcus walking completely into the room.
It was Daniel, my son, casually holding a heavy, silenced pistol directly against Marcus's bleeding head.
