Chapter 5: The Ambush at the Gates**
Julian walked toward them with deliberate, menacing steps. The rain bounced off his polished leather shoes, his tuxedo pristine while Arthur and Elena stood battered and drenched.
“A touching family reunion,” Julian sneered, clapping his hands slowly. “Elena, get in the car. Arthur, you should have stayed in the ditch where my men left you.”
Elena stepped in front of her father defensively, her eyes blazing. “Stay away from him, Julian. I’m calling the police. I have the recording.”
Julian laughed, a dark, chilling sound. “The police? In this county? The Chief of Police sits on my board of directors, sweetheart. By tonight, that audio file will be ruled an AI-generated deepfake, and your father will be in county jail for trespassing and extortion.”
Arthur stepped forward, gently pushing Elena behind him. Despite his torn shirt and bleeding eyebrow, his posture shifted. The hunched, defeated old man disappeared, replaced by a gaze that was terrifyingly calm.
“You always were sloppy, Julian,” Arthur said quietly, his voice cutting through the sound of falling rain. “You thought my company was just a dying fleet of twenty trucks. You never bothered to look at who owned the land under your development projects.”
Julian’s smirk faltered for a fraction of a second. “What are you babbling about, old man?”
May you like
“I didn't come to Elena's wedding to beg for money,” Arthur continued evenly. “I came to sign over the deed to the city port terminal to her. The terminal your shell company borrowed sixty million dollars to acquire.”
---
