Chapter 14 - Sins of the Mother
Derek backed away violently until his spine hit the heavy stone fireplace, his chest heaving with terrified, erratic breaths.
He desperately tried to negotiate, aggressively promising to hand over all of Eleanor’s classified financial documents if I just let him walk out the front door.
Before I could respond, a cold, aristocratic voice echoed sharply from the shadowy balcony overlooking the dining hall.
A tall, incredibly elegant woman stepped into the light, wearing a tailored black evening gown that perfectly matched her ruthless demeanor.
My mother looked exactly as she had twenty years ago, her face entirely untouched by time or the immense grief she had caused my father.
She looked down at me with absolutely zero maternal affection, her piercing blue eyes calculating my exact tactical threat level.
Eleanor calmly descended a spiral iron staircase, flanked immediately by four heavily armed mercenaries.
She stated that Derek was always a highly expendable pawn, specifically recruited years ago to isolate me and slowly drain my inheritance.
She had completely faked her tragic death to escape a massive, international syndicate debt that she had secretly accrued behind my father's back.
She needed absolute control of Sterling Enterprises to finally pay off her violent European creditors, and my sudden ascension to CEO had completely ruined her decade-long master plan.
She coldly ordered her mercenaries to eliminate me and dispose of my body in the river.
Derek let out a pathetic sigh of relief, eagerly cheering for my execution.
I stared directly into my mother's eyes and felt the very last fragile piece of my childhood completely shatter.
I smiled a dark, completely unbothered smile and pressed a hidden transponder button on my watch.
Instantly, all the lights in the massive chateau completely blew out, plunging the entire estate into absolute, terrifying darkness.
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The deafening sound of shattering glass erupted from the library above as Chloe aggressively breached the internal security network and triggered the automated fire suppression system.
Cold water rained heavily down upon the dining room as I raised my weapon in the dark.
