Chapter 8 - The Empire Strikes Back
My grandfather stood tall in the bunker hallway, the weakness of the poison completely banished from his body.
He looked like the ruthless king of the Alvarez empire once again, his eyes burning with cold fury.
"Nobody threatens my family in my own home," Ernesto growled, stepping over the dead mercenary commander.
I hugged my grandfather tightly, overwhelmed with profound relief that he was finally safe and lucid.
He looked at my mother, a complex wave of sorrow and regret washing over his wrinkled face.
"I am so sorry I locked you away, Isabella, but Marcus brought the cartel directly to our doorstep," Ernesto apologized softly.
My mother nodded, tears in her eyes as she embraced the man who had sacrificed everything to keep her hidden.
"We need to get above ground right now," Ernesto ordered, reloading his heavy silver revolver.
"Marcus is currently in the main study, authorizing a full transfer of our steel assets to the cartel bosses."
We moved silently through the bunker, taking a different set of hidden stairs that led directly to the executive wing.
We emerged behind a false bookshelf in Ernesto's private study, stepping out into the dim, luxurious room.
Marcus was sitting at the massive mahogany desk, typing rapidly on an encrypted laptop.
Standing right beside him was Clara, my beautiful, sweet fiancée, holding a suppressed pistol.
"Clara?" I whispered, my heart shattering into a million jagged pieces.
She turned around, her sweet, innocent smile replaced by a look of sheer, calculating malice.
"I am sorry, Julian, but the cartel pays substantially better than your grandfather ever could," Clara sneered.
She had been a highly trained corporate spy all along, placed in my life specifically to monitor the Alvarez family.
"Sign the transfer, Marcus, or I put a bullet in your head right now," Clara commanded my terrified uncle.
Marcus pressed his finger to the laptop's scanner, authorizing the massive, illegal transfer of billions of dollars.
"Transfer complete," the computer chimed loudly in the quiet study.
Clara smiled wickedly, turning her gun directly toward my grandfather.
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"Thank you for your generous donation to our cause, old man," she mocked.
Before she could fire, Sofia grabbed a heavy bronze globe from a side table and hurled it directly at Clara's head.
