Chapter 3 - Shattered Crystal
The banquet hall descended into utter chaos. Guests rose from their tables, whispering frantically into their phones while security guards in black suits began cordoning off the exits.
Clara lunged forward, grabbing Julian’s sleeve, her lace veil tearing against his cufflink. "Julian, please! You have to get us out of here! If they see that Lily gave you that drive, neither of us will leave this building alive!"
Julian pried her fingers off his jacket with chilling deliberation. "Who is 'they', Clara? You stole my corporate patents and my private offshore ledgers. You weren't protecting me. You were robbing me blind."
"I was doing what I had to do to survive!" Clara cried, tears cutting tracks through her immaculate bridal makeup. "They have my brother! They told me if I didn't hand over the Vance estate bypass keys by noon today, they would kill him!"
Julian turned back to Lily, whose small hands were trembling despite her calm composure. "Lily, who brought you here?"
"A taxi driver dropped me off," the girl whispered, pointing toward the main entrance. "A man with a scar on his neck paid the driver and told me to run inside. He said he would be watching from across the street."
Julian’s blood ran cold. The scarred man was Arthur Vance’s personal enforcer.
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Before Julian could bark an order to the security detail, the grand chandeliers suddenly flickered and died. The enormous hall was plunged into pitch darkness, punctuated only by the sharp, terrifying sound of shattering glass from the ballroom’s skylight overhead.
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