Chapter 11 - BLOOD ON THE MARBLE
“Mom!”
Julian dropped beside Martha.
Blood spread across her shoulder.
She was alive.
“Look at me.”
Martha gasped.
“I’m fine.”
“You’ve been shot.”
“I noticed.”
Across the room, chaos exploded.
Adrian tackled Bianca.
Rachel grabbed a metal lamp and struck him across the back.
Evelyn aimed at Julian.
Bianca grabbed her mother’s wrist.
The gun fired into the ceiling.
“You ruined everything!” Evelyn screamed.
Bianca shoved her away.
“You ruined me!”
Adrian punched Rachel.
She fell.
Julian charged him.
They slammed into the desk.
Adrian was older but strong.
He drove a fist into Julian’s stomach.
“You’re exactly like your father.”
Julian hit him back.
“Good.”
Adrian grabbed his throat.
“And you’ll die like him.”
Julian drove his forehead into Adrian’s nose.
Bone cracked.
Adrian stumbled.
Outside, sirens approached.
Evelyn heard them.
“Move!”
She ran toward a side door.
Adrian followed.
Bianca stood frozen.
Her mother looked back.
“Come!”
Bianca didn’t move.
“Bianca!”
She looked at Julian.
Then at Martha bleeding on the floor.
“No.”
Evelyn’s expression changed.
“What?”
“I’m done.”
“You ungrateful little fool.”
Evelyn raised her gun.
Julian saw it first.
“Bianca!”
He lunged.
The shot fired.
Bianca fell.
Evelyn ran.
Julian dropped beside Bianca.
Blood covered her side.
She looked shocked.
“I think she shot me.”
“That’s usually what happens when someone fires a gun at you.”
Bianca laughed weakly.
Then winced.
“Still sarcastic.”
“Stay awake.”
“You hate me.”
“Yes.”
“Fair.”
Police stormed the estate.
Evelyn and Adrian disappeared into underground tunnels connected to the property.
Paramedics took Martha and Bianca to the hospital.
Rachel had a broken nose.
Julian had bruised ribs.
By sunrise, Swiss authorities had locked every related account.
One hundred seventy-six million dollars.
Most of it traceable to criminal proceeds.
At the hospital, Julian sat beside Martha.
Her surgery had gone well.
She opened her eyes.
“You look terrible.”
“You were shot.”
“And you still look terrible.”
He laughed for the first time in days.
Then his eyes filled.
“I almost lost you.”
“You didn’t.”
“I didn’t listen to you.”
“No.”
“I chose Bianca over you.”
Martha touched his hand.
“You trusted someone you loved.”
“I should’ve known.”
“People like Bianca survive because they’re good at making lies feel safe.”
Julian looked through the glass toward another room.
Bianca was under guard.
“She saved us.”
“She also nearly killed me.”
“I know.”
Martha sighed.
“Life would be easier if bad people were bad every second.”
Julian looked at his mother.
“She loved me.”
“Maybe.”
“That doesn’t erase what she did.”
“No.”
A detective entered.
“We found Adrian.”
Julian stood.
“Alive?”
“Yes.”
“Evelyn?”
The detective shook his head.
“She got away.”
“Where?”
“We don’t know.”
Julian felt dread.
Then the detective handed him a phone.
“This was recovered from Adrian.”
There was one unsent message on the screen.
Evelyn, if we lose the accounts, use Plan B.
Julian frowned.
“What’s Plan B?”
The detective said:
“We were hoping you could tell us.”
Julian stared at the words.
Then his own phone rang.
Hale Industries headquarters.
He answered.
His chief financial officer sounded panicked.
“Julian, we have a problem.”
“What?”
“The board just removed you as CEO.”
Julian froze.
“What are you talking about?”
“They held an emergency vote.”
“On whose authority?”
There was silence.
Then the CFO whispered:
“Bianca Laurent’s.”
Julian looked toward Bianca’s hospital room.
“How?”
May you like
“She owns thirty-one percent of Hale Industries.”
Julian felt the world tilt again.
