Chapter 12 - The Siege of Vale Tower
Police surrounded Vale Tower.
Nathan held twelve employees inside the executive boardroom.
Explosives had been placed near the elevators.
He demanded Mia and the contents recovered from locker 314.
Adrian stood inside the mobile command center.
“He doesn’t care about Mia.”
“He cares about controlling the trust.”
Detective Brooks nodded.
“If Mia dies before a legal guardian is appointed, her inheritance returns to the Vale estate.”
“And Nathan controls the company’s emergency succession committee.”
“He planned this before the gala.”
Adrian looked toward the top floor.
Nathan had used Celeste’s crimes to create chaos.
Then he had positioned himself to steal everything.
Mia sat inside an armored police vehicle.
She had refused to leave.
Adrian entered.
“You should be at the hospital.”
“So should you.”
“I have to help those people.”
“They didn’t help me.”
“No.”
“But we don’t become like them.”
Mia looked down.
Adrian sat beside her.
“Nathan wants you frightened.”
“He wants everyone to believe you are a helpless child.”
“I am a child.”
“You are also the person who carried Noah into a ballroom full of powerful adults.”
“Every one of them was afraid to speak.”
“You weren’t.”
Mia looked at him.
“What do you want me to do?”
“Stay alive.”
Police negotiators contacted Nathan.
He refused to release hostages.
Then a live video appeared on every news channel.
Nathan stood inside the boardroom.
One terrified employee knelt beside him.
Nathan held a gun against the man’s head.
“Adrian Vale has ten minutes.”
“If Mia is not here, someone dies.”
Mia watched the broadcast.
She opened the armored vehicle door.
Adrian stopped her.
“No.”
“I can distract him.”
“He will kill you.”
“He won’t.”
“How do you know?”
“Because he needs me to sign something.”
Adrian realized she was right.
Nathan needed legal control of her inheritance.
A dead heir would trigger years of court battles.
A frightened child could be manipulated.
Brooks created a new plan.
Mia would enter the lobby wearing a tracking device.
She would never reach the executive floor.
The goal was to draw Nathan’s attention while tactical officers entered from the roof.
Adrian hated every part of it.
Mia looked at him.
“You trusted me with Noah.”
“I didn’t have a choice.”
“You do now.”
Adrian knelt.
“You are not disposable.”
“I know.”
“That’s why I’m choosing.”
Mia walked into the tower.
Cameras broadcast her every step.
Nathan called the lobby phone.
Mia answered.
“I’m here.”
“Take the private elevator.”
“Release one hostage.”
Nathan laughed.
“You sound like your father.”
“Did you kill him too?”
Nathan’s silence lasted several seconds.
Then he said something Adrian heard through the police channel.
“Celeste pushed him.”
“But I was the one who told her where he would be.”
Mia kept him talking.
“Why?”
“Because Julian planned to give the company to the victims.”
“He believed the Vale name needed to pay for what it had done.”
“He was right.”
Nathan’s voice hardened.
“Take the elevator.”
Mia stepped inside.
The doors closed.
The elevator rose.
Adrian turned toward Brooks.
“That wasn’t the plan.”
Brooks pressed her radio.
“We lost control of the elevator.”
Nathan had overridden the system.
Mia was going directly to the executive floor.
The tactical team had not reached the roof.
Adrian grabbed a police vest.
Brooks blocked him.
“You’re injured.”
“That’s my niece.”
He ran toward the stairwell.
On the executive floor, the elevator doors opened.
Nathan stood alone.
No hostages were visible.
Mia stepped out.
“Where are they?”
Nathan smiled.
“There were never twelve hostages.”
He pressed a button.
A wall screen turned on.
The employees were locked inside a lower-floor conference room.
The explosives were beneath them.
Nathan held out a legal document.
“Sign over your trust.”
Mia stared at the paper.
“No.”
Nathan pointed the gun at her.
“Your father made the same mistake.”
Mia picked up the pen.
Then the roof door exploded inward.
Tactical officers entered.
Nathan grabbed Mia and pressed the gun beneath her chin.
Adrian reached the executive floor seconds later.
Nathan dragged Mia toward the balcony.
“Come closer and she dies.”
Adrian stopped.
Mia looked at him.
She was terrified.
But her right hand moved slowly toward the fire alarm behind her.
Nathan noticed.
May you like
He pulled the trigger.
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