Chapter 12 - Bloodlines and Betrayal
Lily stood beside the old car, listening to the speakerphone as Arthur Vance shattered every illusion she had ever held about her family.
*"You should have taken the buyout, Marcus,"* Arthur sighed, the sound of ice clinking against glass audible over the connection. "You wanted to build clean infrastructure. You wanted to audit the foreign holding accounts. Did you really think our family’s empire was built on clean concrete and honest labor?"
"You tried to sell my daughter," Marcus snarled, his fist gripping the desk edge so tightly the wood splintered. "She is your niece, Arthur. She has your mother’s blood."
*"And she has your defiance,"* Arthur replied smoothly. "The syndicate in Singapore wanted a controlling stake in the Vance Trust. The trust cannot be liquidated without your signature—or the inheritance of your sole legal heir. Once she was out of the country, under their legal wardship, they would have exercised her power of attorney to clear the accounts. It was a victimless corporate restructuring. You made it messy by running."
"I am going to tear down everything you built," Marcus said, each word a calibrated promise of death. "I am going to take your accounts, your foundation, and your freedom. And then I am going to put you in the ground."
Arthur chuckled, a dry, rattling laugh. "You always had grand speeches, Marcus. But look out the safe house window."
The satellite line went dead.
May you like
Marcus dropped the receiver, sprinting toward the narrow dirty window overlooking the dockyard. Lily ran up behind him, peering through the rain-streaked grime.
Outside, five black SUVs with tinted windows pulled into a tight semi-circle around the warehouse entrance, their high beams illuminating the rusted iron doors. From the lead vehicle stepped Clara, her head bandaged where glass had clipped her temple, flanked by eight heavily armed private contractors.
