Chapter 10 - ROLE REVERSAL
Isabella backed up against the heavy metal shutter of the loading dock.
The dark figure stepped out of the shadows.
It wasn't a mercenary.
It was Julian.
He was holding a smoking taser in his right hand.
Behind him, two of the hired mercenaries lay unconscious on the dusty floor.
"Julian?!" Isabella gasped, nearly dropping to her knees in relief.
"You... you saved us?"
Julian looked at Isabella, his eyes cold and devoid of any emotion.
"Where is she?" Julian asked softly.
"She went that way! She distracted them so I could escape!" Isabella pointed into the darkness.
Julian didn't look in that direction.
He stepped closer to Isabella.
"Julian... Mother tried to have us killed," Isabella said, tears streaming down her cheek.
"She sent those men!"
"I know," Julian replied quietly.
"I authorized the payment for them."
Isabella's entire world shattered for the second time in twenty-four hours.
She froze, looking at her older brother as if he were a complete stranger.
"You... what?"
"Mother didn't call those men, Isabella," Julian said, his tone entirely flat.
"I did."
"Mother is old and foolish."
"She thought she could hide the truth forever through denial."
"I knew the moment Seraphina showed up that the Vance name was finished unless I took total control."
"Julian... I am your sister!" Isabella cried out.
"You both are," Julian said, taking another step forward.
"And that is the problem."
"As long as two identical heiresses are fighting a public war, the company stock will continue to die."
"The board will divide."
"The family fortune will be swallowed by legal fees and government investigations."
"So..." Isabella whispered, her voice barely audible.
"You're going to kill us both?"
"Not both," Julian said, raising the taser.
"Just the one who is making all the noise."
"And the other will spend the rest of her life in a private psychiatric facility in Switzerland, completely silent."
Suddenly, a heavy iron pipe swung through the darkness.
It struck Julian hard across the shoulder.
Julian cried out in pain and dropped the taser onto the floor.
Seraphina stepped out from behind a concrete pillar, holding the heavy pipe.
Her forehead was bleeding, but her eyes were wild with fury.
"Get out of here, Isabella!" Seraphina roared.
Julian recovered quickly, swinging his heavy fist toward Seraphina.
Seraphina ducked, but Julian grabbed her by the hair and slammed her against the concrete wall.
"You ruined everything!" Julian snarled, his face twisted in rage.
"We had everything!"
Isabella looked at the dropped taser on the floor.
She looked at her twin sister being choked against the wall by their brother.
For twenty-five years, Isabella had been protected, pampered, and weak.
She had spent her entire life letting others handle her problems.
She looked at her bloodstained coat.
She looked at Seraphina fighting for her life.
Isabella lunged forward.
She picked up the taser.
She didn't hesitate.
She drove the electrical prongs straight into Julian's neck and pulled the trigger.
High-voltage electricity surged through Julian's body.
His eyes rolled back, and he collapsed heavily onto the concrete floor, twitching violently before going entirely still.
Seraphina slid down the wall, gasping for air, clutching her throat.
Isabella stood over her brother, the taser shaking uncontrollably in her hand.
Seraphina looked up at Isabella in absolute shock.
Isabella dropped the taser.
She looked at her sister.
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"Now..." Isabella said, her voice dropping an octave, completely devoid of its former fragility.
"Now we kill the empire together."
