Chapter 10 - Bloodline TiesEthan didn't move a muscle. He felt the cold pressure of the pistol against his skull, but his breath remained steady and slow.

"You should have stayed in America, Ethan," Eleanor murmured, her voice dripping with disappointed disgust. "You had wealth, power, position. I built an empire for you, and you threw it all away for the daughter of my enemy."

"You built an empire on corpses, Mother," Ethan said coldly, eyeing Eleanor's reflection in the dark window glass opposite him. "You killed Arthur Vance, you poisoned Clara, and you caged this innocent woman for twenty-five years. You're not a queen. You're a monster."

"I am a survivor!" Eleanor snapped, her aristocratic composure breaking into pure fury. "Arthur Vance was going to bankrupt us! He was going to expose the Sterling family's debts to the world! I saved our family!"

"By turning us into murderers?" Ethan scoffed.

"By doing what was necessary!" Eleanor raised her voice, gesturing with the gun. "Now hand over the flash drive with the master encryption key, or I put a bullet through Evelyn’s head right here in front of you."

Suddenly, the high-altitude glass window shattered inward in a violent explosion of sparkling shards!

A flashbang grenade bounced off the hardwood floor, exploding with a deafening THUNDER-CRACK of blinding light and disorienting sound!

Marcus Vance swung through the shattered window on a tactical rappelling line, his rifle raised. Ethan spun around instantly, sweeping Eleanor's legs out from under her. The pistol flew from her hand, skidding across the polished floorboards.

Eleanor hit the ground hard, gasping for air. Ethan kicked the pistol out of reach and helped Evelyn up into his arms, sheltering her with his own body.

"Secure the target!" Marcus roared as two tactical operators burst through the door, providing suppressive fire as Apex mercenaries engaged them in the hallway.

May you like

She claimed she was enforcing discipline. She was actually trying to sil...

My husband smashed a plate against my head in front of his entire family...

# My Husband Smashed a Plate Against My Head in Front of His Entire Family—Because I Refused to Give His Mother My CondoThey belie...

When a stepmother's greed turns into an open threat against an infant.

Ethan lifted Evelyn into his arms and carried her out the shattered window onto the fire escape, sliding down the emergency line toward the waiting escape vehicle below.

Behind them, Eleanor crawled toward the fallen gun, her face covered in blood and snow, screaming into the roaring wind: "THIS ISN'T OVER, ETHAN! YOU CANNOT DESTROY ME!"