Chapter 4 - The Man in the Chair
Red and blue lights flashed wildly across the walls of my ruined living room.
"I did not call the police," Vance muttered, his hand instinctively resting on his holster.
"Marcus called them to frame us for the assassin's murder," I realized with a sinking dread.
We had no time to explain the situation to a corrupt police force that Marcus likely already paid off.
Vance pushed my wheelchair through the secret servant's corridor that led to the underground garage.
We loaded into his armored SUV and sped out through the hidden utility tunnel just as the front doors were kicked open by heavily armed SWAT officers.
We drove for an hour in tense silence until we reached a rundown, off-the-grid motel on the outskirts of Chicago.
Vance carried me into the dingy room and placed me on the sagging mattress.
I immediately opened my encrypted laptop, desperate to access my corporate bank accounts before Marcus could drain them.
Every single password I entered was instantly rejected.
My security clearances had been completely revoked.
A sudden video call notification popped up on the center of my laptop screen.
I hesitated for a moment before hitting the accept button.
The screen flickered to life, showing the interior of my own luxurious CEO office at the top of Caldwell Tower.
The high-backed leather chair was slowly spun around to face the camera.
Sitting in my chair, wearing my expensive custom suit, was my brother Gabriel.
He looked exactly like me, holding the same posture and wearing the same arrogant smile I used in boardroom meetings.
"Hello, little brother," Gabriel said smoothly, taking a sip from my favorite crystal whiskey glass.
"You should be dead," I spat at the screen, my hands shaking with absolute fury.
"I had to die twenty years ago so our father's enemies would stop hunting us, but you got to keep the lavish life," Gabriel replied bitterly.
"Now, it is my turn to take back the life that was stolen from me."
Gabriel snapped his fingers, and the camera panned to the side of the room.
Rebecca and Sammy were bound to a chair, crying silently as two heavily armed guards stood over them.
"You are going to transfer the offshore funds to me, Ethan, or your little saviors are going to disappear forever," Gabriel threatened.
"I cannot fight you from a wheelchair, Gabriel," I pleaded desperately.
May you like
Gabriel threw his head back and laughed a dark, cruel laugh.
"That is the best part, Ethan, because your spine was never actually severed in the crash."
