Chapter 2 - The Stolen Secrets
I threw myself to the left just as the heavy steel crowbar smashed into the wooden doorframe.
Wood splinters rained down on my hair as I scrambled across the ruined office floor.
The masked man grunted in frustration and swung the weapon at me again.
I grabbed a heavy bronze paperweight from the shattered desk and hurled it directly at his chest.
The metal struck him hard, causing him to stumble backward and drop the silver laptop.
I did not hesitate for a single second.
I lunged forward, snatched the laptop off the carpet, and sprinted back out into the dark hallway.
The man roared in anger, his heavy boots pounding against the floor as he chased me toward the emergency stairwell.
I pushed through the heavy fire doors and practically flew down the concrete steps.
My lungs burned with every breath, but the adrenaline pushed me to run faster than I ever had in my life.
I burst out into the underground parking garage and frantically clicked the unlock button on my car keys.
I threw myself into the driver's seat, slammed the door shut, and locked it just as the masked man slammed his fists against my window.
I stepped on the gas pedal and sped out of the garage, leaving the furious intruder behind in a cloud of exhaust.
My hands were shaking violently as I merged onto the highway and headed toward a secure location.
I drove to an old, abandoned cabin in the mountains that my late father had purchased under a fake corporation name.
Julian did not know this place existed, making it the perfect safe house for the night.
I carried the stolen laptop inside, locked the heavy wooden door, and sat down at the dusty kitchen table.
I opened the computer and used the bypass software my private investigator had given me.
Within minutes, I was staring at Julian's private, encrypted email account.
I searched for the name of the brunette woman from the airport.
Her name was Vanessa, and she was not just a simple colleague or a naive mistress.
She was an international corporate spy who specialized in bankrupting vulnerable businessmen.
I opened a folder labeled with my own name and felt my stomach drop to the floor.
Julian and Vanessa were not just planning to steal my father's house and drain my bank accounts.
They had secretly taken out a massive, fraudulent life insurance policy on my life.
May you like
The final email in the thread was sent by Vanessa only twenty minutes ago.
The message read that the brakes on my car had already been completely severed.
