Chapter 6 - The Poisoned Truce
The red laser sights from the guards outside pierced through the humid glass.
The tiny dots danced across Elara and Victoria like deadly fireflies.
Elara realized that Richard intended to eliminate both of his daughters tonight.
Victoria explained that Richard had recently discovered her plan to steal his fortune.
He had locked them in the greenhouse to frame them for a tragic murder-suicide.
The fake heir tossed the silver revolver onto the dirt path.
She stated that the gun was empty and entirely useless against armed men.
Elara asked what they were supposed to do trapped in a glass cage.
Victoria pulled a small glass vial filled with blue liquid from her silk pocket.
She explained it was a highly concentrated neurotoxin she had stolen from the estate's lab.
She had originally planned to use it on Richard during the gala.
Victoria pointed to the massive ventilation fan at the top of the greenhouse.
She said the fan pulled air directly from the greenhouse into the guards' watchtower.
If they poured the toxin into the intake valve it would knock the guards out in seconds.
Elara climbed the rusty maintenance ladder while Victoria kept watch.
The laser sights tracked her movements but no one fired a shot yet.
Richard was likely waiting for his men to clear the perimeter first.
Elara reached the top and carefully poured the blue liquid into the spinning fan blades.
A faint sweet-smelling mist blew out toward the watchtower.
Within moments the red laser sights dropped completely away from the glass.
Heavy thuds echoed from outside as the guards collapsed into the gravel.
Elara scrambled down the ladder breathing heavily.
Victoria unlocked the door and they sprinted into the dark gardens.
They needed to reach the gala in the main ballroom to expose Richard publicly.
They snuck through the elaborate hedge maze to avoid the security cameras.
Victoria warned Elara that they would only get one chance to plug in the hard drive.
They reached the side entrance of the kitchen just as the gala music swelled.
Elara grabbed a clean uniform from the laundry bin and put it on.
She handed the hard drive to Victoria who slipped it into her elegant evening gown.
They agreed to meet at the audio-visual booth above the ballroom.
Elara walked into the grand hall holding a tray of champagne flutes.
She scanned the crowd of billionaires and politicians.
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Her blood ran cold when she saw Richard standing on the main stage.
He was holding the exact same encrypted hard drive in his right hand.
