Chapter 6 - The Stolen Blueprint
Beatrice slowly stood up from the leather chair and poured herself a glass of expensive bourbon.
She did not look angry; she looked entirely amused by my amateur espionage.
"You are a very resilient woman, Maya," she complimented me mockingly.
I gripped the flash drive tightly in my pocket, refusing to show her my terror.
"You won't get away with this," I told her firmly.
Beatrice laughed and took a slow sip of her drink.
"I have already gotten away with it," she replied.
She explained that her connections in the city were deeply embedded in the police force and the courts.
No one would believe a hysterical pregnant woman over a respected society matron.
She ordered me to go back to my room and await my inevitable fate.
I limped back to my bedroom, closing and locking the door behind me.
I pulled out a secret burner phone that Chloe had slipped under my hospital mattress days ago.
I dialed the number Chloe had memorized for emergencies.
She answered on the first ring, her voice trembling with anxiety.
"Chloe, I know about the life insurance policy," I whispered.
Chloe gasped on the other end of the line.
"I told you they were planning to kill you," she said.
I proposed a desperate alliance to dismantle Beatrice's empire and escape.
I told Chloe to use her accounting access to freeze the offshore accounts where Beatrice hid her money.
In exchange, I promised to give Chloe the evidence she needed to clear her name with the loan sharks.
Chloe agreed to the plan, promising to meet me at the back gate of the estate at midnight.
I spent the entire day quietly packing a small bag with essential baby clothes and cash.
When midnight finally arrived, I snuck out the back door and moved silently across the lawn.
The cold night air bit at my face, but the promise of freedom fueled my adrenaline.
I saw the headlights of a car waiting near the wrought-iron gate.
I rushed forward, heavily leaning on my bad leg, and pulled the passenger door open.
"Thank God you are here," I breathed a sigh of relief.
But it was not Chloe sitting in the driver's seat.
It was David, staring at me with a look of absolute fury.
Chloe walked out from the shadows near the bushes, holding my packed bag.
May you like
She looked at me with a cold, calculating expression.
"I am sorry, Maya, but Beatrice offered me ten percent of your life insurance payout," Chloe revealed.
