Chapter 10 - The Fallen GuardianSilence hung over the boardroom so heavy that the hum of the air conditioning sounded like a roaring wind.
Victor plugged the black hard drive into the master podium. Instantly, the massive high-definition screens along the wall illuminated, playing a pristine audio-visual file recorded twenty years earlier.
Lord Arthur Sterling’s voice filled the room:
"If Julian Vance presents a claim to this board after my death, know that every financial document bearing his signature from 1998 onward was obtained through extortion and corporate murder. I hereby bequeath my entire controlling stake of Vance Consortium to my daughter, Mia, and her descendants."
The board members began shouting in outrage, turning their backs on Julian as they realized the magnitude of the fraud.
"You snake!" one director yelled at Julian. "You made us accomplices to murder!"
Seeing his empire crumble in a matter of seconds, Julian’s eyes filled with a feral, desperate madness. He reached beneath his charcoal jacket, pulling a compact double-barrel pistol from an inner pocket.
He didn't aim at Agent Reyes. He didn't aim at the board members. He aimed the weapon straight at Mia’s heart.
"If I can't have it, no one will!" Julian shrieked.
"Mia!" Victor roared.
With lightning speed, Victor threw his body across the obsidian table, shoving Mia to the floor just as Julian squeezed the trigger.
BANG!
A blinding flash lit up the room. The bullet struck Victor squarely in the shoulder, the force knocking him backward onto the shattered glass carpet. Blood pooled instantly through his dark suit jacket.
"Victor!" Mia screamed, scrambling across the floor to catch his head before it hit the hard ground.
Before Julian could fire a second time, Agent Reyes drew her sidearm and fired a single round, striking Julian’s wrist. The pistol flew from his fingers, clattering uselessly across the marble floor. FBI agents swarmed Julian, slamming him down onto the obsidian table and pinning his arms behind his back in heavy steel cuffs.
"Get a medic up here now!" Reyes barked into her radio headset.
Mia held Victor tight against her chest, her hands covered in his blood, tears streaming down her face. "Victor! Stay with me! Please, look at me!"
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Victor let out a weak, raspy breath, a painful smile touching his pale lips as he looked up into her tear-filled eyes. "I... I kept my promise, Mia... Your father’s legacy... is safe..."
"Don't talk like that!" Mia sobbed, pressing a cloth firmly against his shoulder wound. "You're going to live! Tommy needs you! I need you!"
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