Chapter 10 - BROOKE CHOSE A SIDE
“Drop the gun!”
Brooke screamed.
Richard spun.
Vivian gasped as the sharp metal pressed against her neck.
Brooke held Chloe with one arm.
“Brooke, don’t be stupid,” Richard said.
“You kidnapped me.”
“I protected you.”
“You punched me!”
“You panicked.”
Brooke’s eyes burned.
“You told me Amanda was the enemy.”
“She is.”
“No.”
Brooke looked at me.
“You are.”
Richard raised the gun.
I shouted, “Don’t!”
Brooke backed away.
“Put it down, Richard.”
Vivian hissed, “You little bitch.”
Brooke almost laughed.
“You paid my father to destroy Daniel Carter.”
Vivian’s face changed.
Richard shouted, “Shut up!”
Brooke looked directly at me.
“My father caused the crash.”
My knees weakened.
“He hit Daniel’s car?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Vivian wanted control of Carter Industrial.”
Vivian spat, “Your father was paid to scare him.”
“He nearly killed him!”
Richard shouted, “Enough!”
Brooke continued.
“But Daniel survived.”
I whispered, “And Richard found him.”
Brooke nodded.
“Years later.”
Richard stepped closer.
“Give me Chloe.”
“No.”
“She’s my daughter.”
Brooke’s face twisted.
“Is she?”
Richard froze.
Even Vivian looked shocked.
Brooke laughed bitterly.
“You never asked for a DNA test.”
Richard’s face drained.
“What are you saying?”
“I’m saying you were so obsessed with Ethan’s money you never considered whether Chloe was actually yours.”
“Brooke.”
“Chloe’s father is someone else.”
Richard’s mouth opened.
No words came.
For a second, even I forgot we were standing in a warehouse with a gun.
Then Vivian shoved Brooke.
Everything happened at once.
Brooke screamed.
Chloe cried.
Richard fired.
The gunshot exploded through the building.
Vivian fell.
I dropped behind a crate.
Police stormed through the side doors.
“POLICE!”
Richard fired again.
Marcus shouted.
Brooke crawled behind a steel beam holding Chloe.
Richard ran toward the back exit.
I saw him.
And I saw the folder lying near his feet.
He grabbed it.
Then disappeared through the door.
Marcus reached me.
“Are you hit?”
“No.”
“Stay down.”
“What about Vivian?”
Paramedics rushed toward her.
Brooke screamed from across the warehouse.
“My baby!”
Marcus looked toward the exit.
Richard was gone.
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But what he didn’t know was that the folder he had stolen contained something far more dangerous than fake trust documents.
It contained a tracker.
