Chapter 9 - The Gala
Megan stepped over the terrified guard and walked into the warehouse.
The interior was not a dirty storage facility at all.
It was an underground luxury command center.
Arthur Vance sat at the end of a long glass table, drinking scotch.
He looked exactly like an older, crueler version of Jason’s father.
He did not look surprised to see her standing there.
He smiled thinly and praised her for finally showing up.
He noted she was much braver than her pathetic ex-boyfriend.
Megan demanded to know where her son was.
Vance calmly replied that the boy was perfectly safe upstairs.
He slid a thick stack of legal documents across the glass table.
He told her to sign away her parental rights in exchange for ten million dollars.
He promised that if she signed, she could walk out alive.
If she refused, neither she nor Dominic Mason would survive the night.
Megan slowly picked up the expensive gold pen.
She stalled, asking Vance why he hated Dominic’s family so much.
Vance laughed deeply.
He confessed he didn't hate Dominic's father at all.
He simply needed the Mason Industries algorithms to cover up his own massive frauds.
He admitted he staged the old man’s suicide to acquire the company shares.
In her earpiece, Dominic’s voice remained dead calm.
He told Megan he had successfully recorded the entire confession.
He ordered her to hit the deck in three seconds.
Megan threw the pen at Vance’s face and dove under the heavy table.
The warehouse plunged into total darkness.
Deafening explosions rocked the foundation as Dominic blew the security servers.
Emergency sirens wailed as smoke filled the lavish room.
Megan scrambled across the floor, coughing from the thick gray smoke.
She found the metal staircase and sprinted upward.
She kicked open a door and found Jason sitting on a plush rug.
He was happily playing with his red ball.
She scooped him up, crying tears of pure relief.
She ran down a side corridor, following Dominic’s instructions in her ear.
She burst through an emergency exit door into the cold night air.
Dominic was waiting in the SUV, the engine roaring.
She threw herself into the passenger seat, holding Jason tight.
They sped away as police sirens wailed in the distance, heading for Vance.
Megan leaned her head back, finally breathing freely.
She looked at Dominic, waiting for a smug comment about saving the day.
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But Dominic was staring at his stomach in shock.
A dark, spreading circle of blood was staining his white shirt.
