Chapter 3 - The Boardroom Betrayal
I pushed Maya behind me instinctively as Charles aimed the weapon at my chest.
"You orchestrated everything," I realized, the pieces finally falling into place.
"Adrian was just a greedy pawn who wanted your money," Charles admitted smoothly.
"But I wanted the empire my father was promised before your grandfather stole it from him," he explained.
He stepped closer, gesturing with the gun toward the vault door.
"You hired Bianca's family to hide my daughter," I said, trying to keep my voice perfectly steady.
"It was the perfect insurance policy against you, Evelyn," Charles smiled.
"And when Adrian got too ambitious, you threw him to the federal investigators to look like a hero," I noted.
Charles nodded, clearly proud of his incredibly twisted plan.
"Now I simply need to declare you a threat to your newly discovered daughter," Charles stated.
He pulled a pair of heavy steel handcuffs from his pocket and threw them at my feet.
"Put them on, Evelyn, or I will shoot the girl right now," he threatened.
Maya sobbed quietly behind me, gripping the fabric of my dress.
I slowly bent down to pick up the cold metal restraints.
As I touched the floor, I noticed the emergency lockdown button hidden beneath the steel desk.
I grabbed the handcuffs and violently hurled them directly at Charles's face.
I slammed my palm onto the red button before he could recover.
Deafening alarms immediately blared through the underground vault.
Thick titanium blast doors slammed shut over the main exit, separating us from the rest of the estate.
We were entirely trapped inside the vault with a madman holding a loaded gun.
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Charles wiped a thin stream of blood from his cheek and raised the weapon again.
"You just sealed your own tomb, Evelyn," he sneered.
