Chapter 8: The Price of Loyalty**
"Ten million dollars," Elena repeated, her voice steady despite the adrenaline spiking through her veins. "Is that what thirty years of loyalty to my father was worth to you, Marcus?"
"Your father is dead, Elena!" Marcus shouted, his hand trembling slightly against the grip of the pistol. "The world doesn't reward loyalty. It rewards power and survival! I spent my whole life being a bodyguard for billionaires while eating scraps. I'm fifty-two years old, and I have nothing to show for it!"
"You had our trust," Elena said, stepping forward instead of backing away.
"Stay back!" Marcus barked, his finger tightening on the trigger.
"Shoot me, then," Elena challenged quietly, her hazel eyes locking onto his without a flicker of fear. "Shoot me and hand those papers to Victoria. But know this, Marcus: the moment you give her what she wants, she will have you eliminated within forty-eight hours. You know how she operates. You are the last living witness."
Marcus paused, a flicker of doubt crossing his hardened features.
"Look at Dr. Moore," Elena continued, gesturing to the elderly physician standing beside her. "He lost everything, but he can still sleep at night knowing he never traded human lives for a Swiss bank account. You protected me for six years, Marcus. Somewhere beneath your fear, you are still a good man."
Heavy sirens wailed in the distance, growing louder by the second.
Marcus's eyes darted toward the staircase. "Police? You called the cops?"
May you like
"No," Elena said. "Charles did."
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