Chapter 5 - The Poisoned Legacy"Cover!" Maria yelled, drawing her suppressed handgun from beneath her blazer and firing three blind shots toward the broken window to deter the sniper.
Julian grabbed Pendelton’s fallen laptop, using it as a shield while he dragged Maria toward the secure emergency exit behind the executive lounge. Glass was showering down like diamond rain, and screams echoed throughout the top floor.
"It’s a long-range hit from the building across the street!" Maria shouted over the chaos as they slammed the heavy steel security doors shut behind them. "They knew you were coming to the board meeting!"
"They didn't want to kill me here," Julian said grimly, wiping a streak of blood from his cheek. "They wanted to create panic. Alexander is playing a psychological game."
Suddenly, Julian’s private encrypted phone vibrated violently in his pocket. It was a video call from the subterranean safehouse. Julian clicked answer.
The face of Dr. Sarah Chen, his elite private pediatrician, appeared on the screen, looking frantic.
"Mr. Vance! You need to come back immediately!" Dr. Chen cried out, the background noise showing medical monitors beeping dangerously fast. "It’s baby Leo!"
Julian’s heart dropped like a stone into a void. His icy calm evaporated, replaced by pure, raw terror. "What happened to my son?!"
"He spiked a massive fever three minutes ago!" Dr. Chen reported. "His blood pressure is crashing. We ran a rapid toxicity screen... Julian, he’s been poisoned!"
Maria gasped, her hands flying to her mouth. "That's impossible! I checked every bottle of formula myself! I ran molecular scans!"
"It wasn't in the food," Dr. Chen wept. "It’s a micro-encapsulated transdermal nerve agent. It was sprayed on his clothing or blanket hours before you arrived at the safehouse. It takes hours to absorb through the skin!"
Julian grabbed the phone tight, his knuckles turning white. "Fix it, Sarah! You have the full resources of my medical wing!"
"We don't have the antidote!" Dr. Chen shouted desperate. "This is a synthetic bio-toxin designed by military labs—specifically, a compound known as V-89. Without the synthetic neuro-inhibitor antidote within twelve hours, his organs will fail!"
Julian felt his world spin. The corporate empire, the billions of dollars, the tactical teams—none of it mattered. His baby boy was dying.
"Who makes V-89?" Julian demanded, his voice dropping into a dangerous growl.
Maria checked her secure database immediately, her fingers flying across her wrist-comm. "It was developed by a dark-lab pharma group in Geneva... purchased six months ago by a company owned by Countess Sophia in Monaco."
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Julian looked at Maria, his eyes burning with absolute vengeance.
"Prep the supersonic jet," Julian ordered, his voice echoing in the concrete stairwell. "We are going to Monaco. And if Countess Sophia doesn't give me that antidote... I will burn Europe to the ground."
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