Chapter 1: The Phone Call That Ended Everything
Chapter 1: The Phone Call That Ended Everything
Adrian stared at me as I lowered the phone.
He forced out a laugh.
"You think your old man can scare me?"
I didn't answer.
I simply watched the second hand on the grandfather clock move across the room.
One minute.
Two.
Three.
Vanessa leaned closer to Adrian.
"She's bluffing."
"I know."
Yet neither of them sounded convinced.
Exactly five minutes after my call, every light inside the mansion suddenly flickered.
Then...
Darkness.
The emergency generator failed to activate.
Adrian frowned.
"What the hell?"
His phone began vibrating nonstop.
One message after another.
His chief financial officer.
His attorney.
His private banker.
His board secretary.
He answered the first call.
"What?"
Silence.
Then his face turned pale.
"No... that's impossible."
Another call.
"Our accounts are frozen?"
Another.
"The government issued a warrant?"
Another.
"The board voted without me?"
He looked at me like he'd never seen me before.
Outside...
Headlights filled the estate driveway.
Not one car.
Not two.
An entire convoy.
Black SUVs rolled through the front gates while helicopters circled overhead.
Vanessa finally stood.
"Adrian..."
The front doors burst open.
Men in dark suits entered first.
Behind them came federal investigators carrying sealed folders.
Then the last person stepped inside.
My father.
Richard Sterling.
The billionaire Adrian had dismissed for three years as "a retired accountant."
His silver hair hadn't changed.
Neither had the calm confidence in his eyes.
He looked at me first.
Only me.
His expression softened when he saw the blood soaking through my dress.
Then it hardened into something terrifying.
"My daughter."
He removed his suit jacket and carefully wrapped it around my shoulders.
"You've endured enough."
Adrian's mouth hung open.
"D... Dad?"
May you like
Richard looked at him with complete indifference.
"You lost the privilege of calling me that the day you touched my child."
