Chapter 10 - The Syndicate’s Ledger
Sarah stood motionless in the doorway, her blue eyes devoid of any warmth as she watched David approach with cautious, deliberate steps. The damp night wind whipped her blonde hair across her face, but she didn't blink. She held a heavy black leather ledger in her left hand, its leather cover worn and cracked with age.
"You took your sweet time, David," Sarah said, her voice entirely devoid of the warmth she always projected at corporate dinner parties. "Richard told me you were observant, but I didn't realize you were naive enough to walk right into a trap without calling the authorities."
David stopped ten feet away, his chest heaving as the pieces of the puzzle finally slammed together with brutal clarity. "Sarah? What is this? Why are you involved in any of this? Where is Elena?"
"Elena was weak," Sarah said coldly, stepping down onto the rotting wooden porch. "She couldn't stomach the final phase of the operation. She grew attached to you, David. Can you believe that? A trained operative falling in love with her mark. She actually thought she could play housewife forever."
"Trained operative?" David echoed, the words tasting like ash in his mouth. "What are you talking about? My marriage... was it all a lie?"
"Every single second of it," Sarah replied, flipping open the black ledger to reveal columns of numbers, corporate letterheads, and signatures. "Twelve years ago, our syndicate needed a foothold in your firm’s patent portfolio. Elena was planted in your life to secure the assets, drain the accounts, and eventually execute a clean transfer of power. But you refused to sign the buyout papers voluntarily. So, the timeline had to be accelerated."
"And the coffee?" David asked, his fists clenched so tightly his fingernails dug into his palms. "She tried to kill me because I wouldn't sign a piece of paper?"
"She tried to remove you because you were becoming a liability," Sarah corrected sharply, taking another step forward. "The poison was meant to look like a sudden aneurysm. Clean, untraceable, and quiet. But your little daughter had to run into the kitchen and ruin months of careful planning."
"If you wanted me dead, why am I standing here?" David demanded, his eyes scanning the treeline for any sign of backup or an escape route.
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"Because Richard wants to sign the final transfer papers legally before the authorities figure out what happened to your corporate assets," Sarah said, lifting her phone to display a live video feed of the motel room where Lily was sleeping. "And unless you sign over your remaining shares right now, that little girl in the motel won't wake up from her nap."
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