Chapter 6 - The Unlikely Ally
"Grab her and take that book," the bank manager shouted, pointing a shaking finger at me.
The three heavily armed guards moved forward, drawing their batons.
I clutched the ledger to my chest and backed away toward the heavy glass exit doors.
Before the guards could reach me, a black luxury sedan smashed violently through the front windows of the bank.
Glass shattered everywhere, raining down on the marble floor like diamonds.
The guards dove out of the way as the car screeched to a halt right in front of me.
The passenger door flew open, and a man in a sharp grey suit leaned over.
"Get in right now if you want to live, Clara!" he yelled over the blaring car alarm.
I didn't hesitate for a single second.
I threw myself into the passenger seat, and the car aggressively reversed out of the destroyed lobby.
We sped down the busy city streets, leaving the corrupt bank manager far behind us.
I caught my breath and looked over at my savior, recognizing his sharp jawline from Forbes magazine.
"You are Elias Thorne," I gasped, staring at the most ruthless defense attorney in the state.
"And you are currently the most wanted woman in the financial district," Elias replied calmly, steering the car expertly through traffic.
"Why are you helping me?" I asked, gripping the ledger tightly.
Elias merged onto the highway, his expression hardening into cold fury.
"Because Sienna ruined my life before she ever met you, Clara," he admitted softly.
He explained that Sienna was his fiancée five years ago, until she framed him for insider trading to steal his firm's client list.
He had spent the last five years quietly rebuilding his empire, waiting for the perfect moment to strike back.
"She is hosting a massive gala tonight to officially rebrand your charity under her own name," Elias told me.
"She plans to announce a massive donation, which is actually just the laundered money returning from offshore."
I felt a surge of adrenaline burning through my veins.
"We have to stop her from taking the stage," I said with absolute determination.
Elias smiled a dark, dangerous smile and handed me a sleek, encrypted laptop.
"We aren't going to stop her, Clara," he corrected me.
"We are going to let her walk right onto that stage, and then we are going to burn her entire world down."
I opened the laptop and began inputting the account numbers from my father-in-law's ledger.
Suddenly, a red warning light flashed across the computer screen.
"Elias, someone is actively wiping the offshore accounts right now," I panicked.
Elias hit the brakes, pulling the car onto the shoulder of the highway.
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"That is impossible, only Marcus has the passwords," Elias said, staring at the screen in disbelief.
"Unless Marcus isn't the one actually pulling the strings," I whispered, realizing there was a third player in this deadly game.
