Chapter 9 - The Boardroom
Victoria Sterling lunged forward with terrifying speed, her eyes completely unhinged with madness.
She bypassed the armed federal agents entirely, aiming the sharp blade directly at my newborn baby.
"If I cannot have the empire, nobody will!" Victoria shrieked at the top of her lungs.
Julian threw himself across the bed without a single moment of hesitation.
The heavy hunting knife plunged deeply into Julian's shoulder, stopping just inches away from my daughter's head.
Julian groaned in massive pain, but he used his good arm to punch Victoria squarely in the jaw.
The elegant matriarch crumpled to the wooden floor in an unconscious, pathetic heap.
The FBI agents immediately pinned her down, slapping heavy steel handcuffs onto her wrists.
Paramedics rushed into the ruined cabin, completely taking over the chaotic scene.
They carefully lifted me and my baby onto a stretcher, assuring me that my daughter was perfectly healthy.
Another team began treating Julian's bleeding shoulder, wrapping it tightly in thick bandages.
As they wheeled me out to the waiting ambulance, a tall man in an FBI windbreaker walked up beside me.
"Sally Davis, I am Special Agent Miller," the man said, looking down at me with immense respect.
"Your husband was the bravest informant I have ever worked with in my entire career."
I looked down at the tiny, beautiful face resting against my chest.
"Is the syndicate finally gone?" I asked softly.
"Richard and Victoria are facing multiple life sentences, and the father died on the operating table," Agent Miller confirmed.
"Mark's testimony dismantled their entire financial network."
"And because you are the legal proxy, the federal government is releasing a substantial, clean settlement to you and Julian to start over."
I closed my eyes, finally letting go of the terror that had gripped me for the last twenty-four hours.
Mark had sacrificed absolutely everything to make sure his family could never hurt us again.
He had given his life to protect the two people he loved more than anything in the world.
As the ambulance doors closed, Julian climbed into the back and sat beside me, offering a weak but genuine smile.
"We are going to be okay, Sally," Julian promised, holding his bandaged shoulder.
"I know," I whispered back.
The flashing lights of the ambulance guided us away from the darkness and toward a brand new life.
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I finally felt like the nightmare was completely over.
But I had no idea that the most shocking revelation was still waiting for me in the morning.
