Chapter 5 - The Desperate Standoff
Beatrice froze, staring at the gun in her son's trembling hands.
"Put that away right this instant, Sebastian," she demanded with absolute authority.
"You promised me nobody would get hurt if we just took the money," Sebastian argued.
"They are going to ruin us, you stupid boy," Beatrice screamed at him.
Renata squeezed my hand, signaling me to slowly back away toward the kitchen hallway.
"I love Renata, and I am not letting you kill my future wife," Sebastian declared.
While the mother and son were locked in a tense standoff, I noticed a small keypad on the wall.
It was the manual override for the estate's emergency lockdown system.
I let go of Renata's hand and lunged toward the glowing panel.
Beatrice saw my movement out of the corner of her eye and shrieked in anger.
She lunged at me with the kitchen knife, completely ignoring her son's weapon.
I punched in the emergency fire code I used every week during my cleaning routines.
The heavy steel shutters instantly began to roll upward with a loud mechanical grinding noise.
Beatrice slashed the knife downward, deeply grazing my left forearm.
I screamed in pain but managed to throw my weight against the heavy front door.
The door burst open, and the freezing night air rushed into the foyer.
"Run, Mariana," Renata yelled as she sprinted past the shocked Beatrice.
We ran across the expansive manicured lawn toward the thick woods bordering the property.
Gunfire erupted from the front porch, shattering the quiet night.
Sebastian had started shooting, but in the darkness, I could not tell who he was aiming at.
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We hit the tree line and kept running until my lungs felt like they were going to burst.
Suddenly, a bright pair of headlights flipped on directly in front of us.
