Chapter 8 - The Betrayal Unveiled
The deafening crash of the estate gates signaled the arrival of Vincent's furious loyalists.
Heavy automatic weapons began firing outside, indicating a massive, bloody turf war had erupted.
Inside the library, Dominic realized his entire plan was rapidly falling apart.
His hired mercenaries panicked, abandoning their positions to flee through the back corridors.
"You think you have won, Vincent?" Dominic screamed frantically from behind the damaged bookshelf.
He blindly fired three more shots toward the desk, shattering a beautiful crystal vase nearby.
Vincent remained completely calm, his gray eyes calculating the enemy's exact position.
"You never had the stomach for true warfare, Dominic," Vincent called out smoothly.
He motioned for Tessa to stay low and quietly pushed his wheelchair out from behind cover.
Vincent moved with silent precision, flanking the panicked underboss from the left side.
Dominic peeked his head out to fire again, but he was entirely looking the wrong way.
Vincent fired a single, perfect shot that blasted the gun right out of Dominic's bloody hand.
Dominic screamed in agony, clutching his shattered hand as he collapsed onto the floor.
Vincent rolled his wheelchair forward until he was towering directly over his former friend.
He aimed the hot barrel of the pistol directly at the center of Dominic's forehead.
"It is finally over," Vincent declared in a voice completely devoid of mercy.
Suddenly, a weak and trembling laugh echoed from the center of the destroyed room.
Arya slowly pushed herself up from the floor, leaning heavily against a shattered wooden table.
The poison had not killed her; it had only acted as a powerful, temporary sedative.
Her elegant silk dress was ruined, and her makeup was smeared horribly across her pale face.
"You fools," Arya wheezed, coughing up a small amount of dark blood.
"Dominic didn't hire the sniper today, and he didn't hire the hitman who shot you six months ago."
Vincent kept his gun aimed at Dominic, but his eyes darted dangerously toward his fiancée.
"What are you talking about?" Vincent demanded, his chest tight with furious realization.
Arya smiled a wicked, unhinged smile that made her look like a terrifying demon.
"I hired them," she confessed proudly, swaying slightly on her unstable legs.
"I wanted the empire, the money, and the power without having to marry a disgusting criminal."
Dominic stared at her in absolute horror, realizing he had been played from the very beginning.
Arya reached behind her back and pulled out a small, remote detonator with a blinking red light.
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"If I cannot have this magnificent empire, then nobody will," she promised viciously.
She pressed her thumb down hard on the heavy trigger button.
