Chapter 5 - The Hostage
The collective scream of the wedding guests was deafening as the silver pistol caught the light of the chandeliers.
People immediately dropped to the floor, hiding under the expensive, silk-covered tables in pure terror.
Vance drew his own weapon with lightning speed, aiming directly at Julian's head.
"Drop the weapon right now, kid, or you will not leave this room alive," Vance ordered with absolute, deadly calm.
Julian’s hands were shaking violently, but his eyes were completely wild and desperate.
"Nobody move, or I swear I will put a bullet right through her heart!" Julian screamed hysterically.
Elara did not flinch, did not scream, and did not take a single step backward.
She stared down the barrel of the gun with the exact same coldness she had shown from the beginning.
"You are not a killer, Julian, you are just a cowardly thief," Elara mocked him softly.
Julian gritted his teeth, the barrel of the gun trembling violently in his sweaty hands.
He realized shooting Elara would mean instant death from Vance's highly trained security team.
In a sudden panic, Julian forcefully grabbed the closest person to him and yanked them in front of his body.
It was Camilla.
Camilla screamed in absolute horror as Julian pressed the cold metal barrel directly against her temple.
"Get me a helicopter to the roof and a laptop with an open satellite connection!" Julian demanded frantically.
Richard watched from the floor, entirely paralyzed by fear as his new wife was taken hostage.
"Julian, please, we can still make a deal!" Camilla begged, tears ruining her expensive makeup.
"Shut up, you old witch, you are my only ticket out of this city," Julian spat, tightening his grip around her neck.
Vance looked at Elara, waiting for her official command on how to proceed.
Elara slowly crossed her arms over her chest, looking completely bored by the dramatic situation.
"You want a laptop so you can access the secret crypto wallets, do you not?" Elara asked casually.
Julian nodded aggressively, his manic eyes darting around the terrified room.
"I know the passwords, I just need the connection to transfer the funds," Julian yelled.
Elara reached into her pocket and pulled out her own cell phone.
"You really should have checked your digital security before bringing a gun to my party," Elara sighed.
May you like
She tapped a single red button on her phone screen and held it up for him to see.
"I just permanently deleted the decryption keys," Elara announced.
