Chapter 10 - The Armored Blockade
The blinding glare of the armored truck's high beams filled the boathouse, casting long, distorted shadows across the wooden interior. Marcus kept his foot firmly on the brake, his hands gripping the steering wheel so tightly his knuckles turned completely white.
“Reverse! Back into the water if you have to!” Julian shouted, his voice laced with absolute panic as he twisted around to check on Leo in the back seat.
Leo was sitting completely still, staring out the side window with a strange, eerie calm that seemed entirely unnatural for a child trapped in a life-or-death situation.
Before Marcus could shift the SUV into gear, the heavy wooden doors of the boathouse were kicked inward with a deafening crash. Splintered wood flew everywhere as two heavily armed operatives stepped into the dim interior, their weapons raised and pointed directly through the windshield of the SUV.
“Turn off the engine and step out with your hands on your heads,” a cold, metallic voice echoed through a tactical speaker attached to one of the operative’s helmets.
Marcus looked sideways at Julian, his jaw clenched. “We can't outrun an armored vehicle, Julian. Not with this terrain.”
“We aren't going to surrender,” Julian whispered, his eyes darting frantically around the boathouse interior looking for another exit. There was none. The water behind them was deep, fast-flowing, and choked with jagged rocks.
Suddenly, the side door of the boathouse creaked open wider. A familiar figure stepped out of the fog, flanked by two more guards. It was Clara. But her bridal gown was long gone, replaced by a dark tactical jacket and practical combat boots. Her face was hard, completely stripped of any warmth or vulnerability.
“End of the line, Julian,” Clara said, her voice dripping with venomous amusement as she walked closer to the driver’s side window, tapping the armored glass with the barrel of a pistol. “You really should have just signed the probate papers and let me handle the estate. You were always too sentimental for the corporate world.”
Julian rolled down the window just an inch, his eyes blazing with fury. “You murdered my father, Clara. And you used our wedding as a stage to cover your tracks.”
Clara laughed coldly. “Your father was a stubborn old dinosaur who refused to sell the patents to the highest bidder. He had to be retired. And as for the wedding? That was Leo’s idea of a grand finale, wasn't it?” She sneered, glancing toward the back seat.
Leo slowly rolled down his window, leaning his small face into the cool night air. He looked directly at Clara, showing no fear whatsoever.
“I didn't want you to marry my dad, Clara,” Leo said clearly. “And I already uploaded the whole file to the federal authorities.”
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Clara’s mocking smile vanished instantly in a single heartbeat.
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