Chapter 7 - A Family of Vipers
The revelation hit Claire harder than the bullet that had grazed her shoulder.
She stumbled back against the wall, clutching her bleeding arm.
She asked how her mother could be alive if she had been murdered twenty-one years ago.
Richard stared at Marcus, his face pale with a mixture of rage and disbelief.
He pressed the barrel of the revolver harder against Marcus's forehead.
Richard demanded the truth, accusing Marcus of lying to save his own life.
Marcus spat blood onto the floor and shook his head.
He told Richard that the coup all those years ago was an inside job.
Claire's mother had orchestrated the massacre to seize control of the family's empire.
She had ordered the execution of her own husband and her infant daughter to eliminate any rivals.
Richard had unknowingly ruined her plan by smuggling Claire out of the country.
For two decades, the Queen had searched the globe for the daughter she failed to kill.
Claire felt the room spinning as the gravity of the betrayal set in.
Her entire existence was a threat to the most powerful woman in the world.
Marcus wheezed, warning them that they had nowhere left to run.
The moment he had scanned the USB drive on his laptop, a silent alarm was triggered.
He said a heavily armed extraction team was already surrounding the diner.
The roar of diesel engines suddenly echoed from the parking lot outside.
Tires screeched as multiple heavy vehicles boxed in the diner.
Bright tactical spotlights pierced through the window blinds, blinding them.
Richard knocked Marcus unconscious with the butt of the revolver.
He grabbed Claire by the hand and pulled her toward the kitchen area.
He told her they had to move immediately or they would be slaughtered.
They crept through the dark kitchen, avoiding the illuminated windows.
Richard peeked through a crack in the back door.
Dozens of elite soldiers wearing black tactical gear were advancing on the building.
These were not Daniel's mercenaries or the Phoenix Vanguard.
They wore patches bearing the golden crest of the royal guard.
They were the Queen's personal death squad.
A megaphone clicked on from the parking lot.
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A cold, female voice ordered them to surrender immediately.
The voice was identical to the woman Claire had just seen in the video.
