Chapter 11 - REVELATIONS IN THE VAULT
Richard Sterling stood beside a large mahogany desk, holding a glass of expensive cognac.
Vanessa sat across from him, looking pale and restless, nervously twisting her diamond ring.
And tied to a chair in the center of the room was Margaret Vale.
Her face was bruised, her lips chapped, but her eyes burned with fierce defiance.
“You’re celebrating too early, Richard,” a deep, chilling voice echoed from the doorway.
Richard froze.
He spun around, spilling a drop of cognac onto his pristine white shirt.
Vanessa screamed, leaping to her feet.
“Dominic? How… how are you here?”
Dominic stepped into the harsh fluorescent light of the vault, his pistol raised and pointed squarely at Richard’s chest.
Viktor stepped in behind him, covering the exits.
And Hannah rushed past them all, dropping to her knees beside her mother.
“Mom!” Hannah cried, frantically slicing the ropes binding Margaret’s wrists.
Margaret gasped, pulling her daughter into a tight, desperate embrace.
“Hannah… you shouldn't have come here,” Margaret wept softly.
Richard Sterling slowly set his glass down.
His initial shock melted into a cold, arrogant smirk.
“You think walking into my vault gives you victory, Dominic?” Richard chuckled, raising his hands slowly. “Look around. This room is wired with a dead-man's switch connected to every federal prosecutor and journalist in New York.”
Dominic didn’t flinch.
“Let them come. I brought the digital backups of the foundation audits.”
“Those backups are useless without the encryption key,” Richard sneered. “And I’m the only one who has it.”
Vanessa stepped forward, her eyes wide with desperation.
“Dominic, please! We can work this out! We’re getting married—!”
“Shut up, Vanessa,” Dominic snarled.
The venom in his voice made her flinch.
“You helped your father murder my wife,” Dominic said, stepping closer. “You watched her carry that mirror. You knew what was hidden behind it.”
Vanessa’s lower lip trembled.
“She was going to destroy everything my father built! She was a self-righteous b—!”
*Bang.*
A single gunshot echoed off the concrete walls.
Vanessa shrieked, stumbling backward as a bullet struck the desk inches from her hand.
Dominic’s eyes were dead black holes.
“Finish another sentence like that, and the next bullet won’t miss.”
Richard’s arrogant facade finally shattered.
Sweat beaded on his forehead.
“What do you want?” Richard choked out.
“Everything,” Dominic whispered. “Every confession. Every offshore account number. And then…”
May you like
Dominic cocked his weapon.
“Then you’re going to tell me exactly how you pushed Elena down the back stairs.”
