Chapter 7 - The Choice
The horrifying sound of tearing metal overpowered the elegant string quartet playing in the ballroom below.
I looked down and saw billionaires, politicians, and celebrities pointing up at the ceiling in sheer panic.
The main support bracket was bending, and the chandelier dropped another two feet, swinging violently.
If it fell, it would kill dozens of innocent people instantly.
The manual trigger for the projector to expose Julian was only ten feet away from me.
I had to choose between finally proving my genius to the world, or saving the lives of the people who were celebrating my worst enemy.
I didn't hesitate.
I abandoned the projector switch and threw my body over the massive winch drum.
I grabbed the thick steel cable with both hands, using my heavy callouses to grip the sharp, fraying wires.
I strained against the immense weight, shoving the mechanical locking pin back into its housing with my shoulder.
My hands bled, and the muscles in my back screamed in agony, but the pin finally clicked into place.
The chandelier stopped falling, hanging precariously but securely just twenty feet above the terrified crowd.
I lay gasping on the catwalk, my arms completely numb and covered in grease and blood.
The hitman had already fled into the shadows, leaving me entirely alone.
Down below, the crowd began to murmur as they spotted me lying exhausted on the grate.
Julian Vance seized the microphone on the stage, his voice echoing loudly through the massive room.
May you like
He pointed a finger directly up at me, his face a mask of fake terror.
Julian screamed to the crowd that I was a disgruntled, deranged former worker trying to assassinate everyone in the room with a homemade bomb.
