Chapter 4 - The Ransom Demand
Kiora stared at the glowing screen, her blood turning to absolute ice in her veins.
Vanessa tilted the camera downward, revealing Elias tied securely to a metal chair with a heavily bruised and bleeding face.
"You have exactly twelve hours to surrender yourself peacefully at the old commercial shipyard," Vanessa purred smoothly into the microphone.
"If you try to run to the police, Elias will die instantly, and your beloved husband Julian is next on the chopping block."
The terrifying video call abruptly ended, leaving the underground concrete garage in a heavy, suffocating silence.
Kiora clutched the encrypted phone tightly to her chest, her intelligent mind racing with sheer, unadulterated panic.
Jax pulled a heavy canvas duffel bag from the trunk and dropped it onto the dusty concrete floor with a loud thud.
"Elias left specialized weapons, forged international passports, and fifty thousand dollars in cash in that bag," Jax stated bluntly.
"He wanted you to run safely to the Swiss border and disappear forever to protect the child."
Kiora looked down at her swollen belly, feeling a remarkably strong, reassuring kick from her resilient unborn child.
"I absolutely cannot run away and hide while the father of my baby is being tortured," Kiora said with a newfound, fierce resolve.
Jax shook his head in absolute disbelief, crossing his highly muscular arms across his broad chest.
"You are an eight-month pregnant woman, Kiora, and you cannot physically fight a heavily armed criminal syndicate."
"I don't have to fight them with bullets," Kiora replied, her dark eyes narrowing with incredibly dangerous intelligence.
"Vanessa desperately wants the biometric inheritance codes locked inside my husband's DNA to steal the corporate funds."
Kiora confidently unzipped the heavy duffel bag and pulled out a sleek, black tactical laptop.
She quickly logged into a hidden, secure offshore server using a sequence of highly complex cryptographic keys.
"My brilliant father taught me exactly how to dismantle a financial empire before I even learned how to drive," Kiora muttered under her breath.
She initiated a massive, entirely irreversible digital transfer of all syndicate funds into a locked charity trust.
Within three agonizingly tense minutes, Vanessa's entire shadow corporation was completely and legally bankrupt.
Kiora looked up at Jax, a fierce, undeniable fire burning brightly in her dark, determined eyes.
"Now we go to the commercial shipyard, and we dictate the absolute terms of the negotiation."
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Before Jax could enthusiastically agree, a glowing red laser dot suddenly appeared squarely on the center of Kiora's forehead.
Jax slowly and carefully raised his hands as heavily armed men stepped out smoothly from the dark shadows of the garage.
