Chapter 6 - The Ultimate Betrayal
I stood frozen in the doorway, staring at the man I had mourned for over a decade.
“How are you alive?” I demanded, stepping defensively in front of Lily.
“I faked my death to protect the child you left behind,” James Lee replied, setting his tea down.
Lily looked completely betrayed, realizing her mentor had lied to her about his own survival.
“You let me think you burned to death!” she shouted, tears of anger filling her eyes.
“It was the only way to keep Arthur Vance from finding you,” James explained gently.
He walked over to the humming computer servers and tapped a few keys.
A massive screen lit up, displaying complex financial webs connecting Arthur Vance to Thorne Industries.
“Arthur did not just betray you, Nathan,” James said, turning to face me.
“He has been selling your proprietary military technology to foreign cartels through Thorne’s shell companies.”
I felt sick to my stomach, realizing my life’s work had been used to fund global terrorism.
“Mei found out about the smuggling operation,” James continued, his voice heavy with grief.
“She was going to expose Arthur, so he ordered the syndicate to burn her apartment down.”
I clenched my fists so hard my knuckles turned completely white.
“I will kill him myself,” I swore, the billionaire facade entirely replaced by absolute vengeance.
“We need the master decryption key from Thorne’s central server to prove it to the authorities,” James stated.
“I can hack their mainframe, but I need physical access to their building,” Lily volunteered fiercely.
I looked at her, seeing my own stubborn determination reflecting perfectly in her hazel eyes.
“You are not going anywhere near that building,” I ordered.
Suddenly, a massive explosion ripped the steel door of the tea shop completely off its hinges.
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Arthur’s heavily armed mercenaries flooded into the room, their weapons drawn and lasers scanning the smoke.
James Lee pulled a shotgun from under his desk and stepped directly into the line of fire.
