Chapter 10: At Gunpoint
The progress bar on the grandfather clock flickered relentlessly: 45%... 60%...
Julian stood frozen, his hand resting casually against the wooden casing of the clock to hide his proximity to the USB port. The cold muzzle of the revolver gleamed under the harsh overhead lights, perfectly matching the dead, unfeeling stare in Eleanor’s eyes. She had clearly anticipated his return, setting a trap in the very room where their marriage had effectively died.
"You really thought you could outsmart me, Julian?" Eleanor asked, her voice dangerously quiet as she stepped further into the library, closing the distance between them. "You, the quiet academic who hid behind my ambition for a decade while I built this empire. You think you can just walk in here and steal it all back for a dead princess and a beggar brat?"
"She isn't a beggar brat, Eleanor," Julian said, keeping his voice steady, buying precious seconds as the progress bar crept upward. 75%... 85%... "She is Catherine of Alistair. And the world is going to know how you and your father murdered her family to steal these estates."
Eleanor’s lips curled into a bitter, humorless sneer. "Murder is such an ugly word, Julian. Let's call it a corporate restructuring. The Alistair dynasty was weak, indulgent, and unfit to manage their own holdings. We modernized the assets. We created jobs, wealth, and power. And I will not let a romantic fool and a stray child tear it down over misplaced sentimentality."
"The courts won't see it as a corporate restructuring when they review the encrypted files currently downloading onto this drive," Julian replied, nodding slightly toward the grandfather clock.
Eleanor’s eyes flashed with sudden realization. She glanced past him at the glowing LED screen on the clockwork face. 95%...
"Stop it!" she shrieked, raising the revolver slightly, her finger tightening on the trigger.
Julian didn't hesitate. With a sudden, violent lunge, he slammed the grandfather clock door shut just as Eleanor pulled the trigger. The gunshot cracked through the library like thunder, a jagged bullet shattering the wooden casing of the clock right where Julian's shoulder had been a fraction of a second earlier.
The impact knocked Julian off balance, sending him crashing onto the Persian rug. He scrambled across the floor, his hand snatching the black USB drive from the port just as the screen flashed: Download Complete.
Eleanor swung the barrel of the gun down toward him, her face twisted in absolute fury. "Give me that drive, Julian, or the next one goes through your heart."
Before she could squeeze the trigger again, the heavy library doors burst open behind her. A group of local law enforcement officers, led by Retired Chief Justice Marcus Sterling himself, poured into the room, their badges gleaming under the lights.
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"Drop the weapon, Eleanor Vance! You are under arrest for attempted murder and corporate fraud," Marcus commanded, his deep voice carrying absolute legal authority.
Eleanor froze, the gun trembling in her hand as the cold reality of a federal takedown finally closed in around her.
