Chapter 10 - The Ultimate Leverage
“Don’t hang up, Elena.”
Mark’s voice was flat, devoid of all emotion, sounding more like a recording than a living person speaking in real-time. The blue light of the phone screen illuminated the tear tracks carved into his cheeks, but his expression remained unnervingly vacant, as if his soul had been entirely hollowed out by whatever horrors had transpired in the house since she fled.
Elena slammed on her brakes, bringing the sedan to a screeching halt on the deserted shoulder of the highway. The towering pines swayed menacingly in the dark wind as she stared at the screen in absolute horror.
“Mark! Oh, my god, Mark, are you okay? Who is that behind you?” Elena shouted into the phone, her voice cracking with sheer panic.
Behind Mark on the screen, a tall figure clad in black tactical gear slowly stepped into view. The masked intruder didn't speak, but he pressed the cold steel blade of a hunting knife slightly deeper against the side of Mark’s neck, drawing a single, bright bead of crimson blood that trickled slowly down his dark green shirt.
“It doesn't matter who he is, Elena,” Mark whispered, his eyes staring lifelessly past the camera lens. “My mother called you, didn't she? She told you I betrayed you. She told you I gave up your backup drive.”
Elena swallowed hard, her grip tightening on the steering wheel until her fingers ached. “She said you chose your inheritance over me, Mark... she said you gave her everything.”
A bitter, humorless laugh escaped Mark’s lips, a hollow sound that sent a shiver straight down Elena’s spine. “My mother lies with every breath she takes, Elena. She didn't just take my backup drive... she took everything I ever was. When you left tonight, I tried to stop her from coming after you. I fought her. And in response... she had her men lock me in this chair and force me to watch while they burned every single photograph, every memory, every piece of evidence from our life together in the living room fireplace.”
Elena gasped, her eyes widening as the horrific truth settled over her. Eleanor hadn't been bluffing. The woman was a sociopath of the highest order, willing to destroy her own flesh and blood to protect her empire of lies.
“Where is Eleanor now?” Elena demanded, her voice hardening into a dangerous, razor-sharp edge as she looked down at the weathered leather briefcase sitting on the passenger seat—the ledger Arthur had sacrificed himself to hand over to her.
“She’s heading back to the estate,” Mark said, his voice dropping to a low, urgent warning. “She knows you have Arthur’s briefcase. That briefcase is the only leverage she has left in the world, because inside the false bottom of that case isn't just a ledger, Elena... it’s the original deed to the family company, signed by my grandfather, transferring absolute ownership not to Eleanor, but to David’s legal heir.”
Elena froze. David’s legal heir. That meant her. Everything Eleanor had killed for, everything she had lied about for thirty years, had legally belonged to Elena’s father all along. And now, by birthright, it belonged to her.
“Listen to me very carefully, Mark,” Elena said, her tone absolute and unyielding. “I am coming back. Tell your mother to wait for me at the house.”
“No! Elena, it’s a trap! If you bring that briefcase back there, she will kill you and feed your body to the wolves!” Mark pleaded, a sudden crack of genuine panic piercing through his robotic facade as the masked man pressed the knife harder against his throat.
“Let her try,” Elena whispered fiercely.
May you like
She ended the call, tossed the phone onto the passenger seat, and gripped the steering wheel with both hands. She slammed her foot down on the accelerator, turning the sedan around in the middle of the highway and pointing its headlights straight back toward the sprawling, ominous gates of the family estate.
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