Chapter 13 - The Hangar Confrontation
The executive airfield was shrouded in damp, gray morning light when Clara’s SUV pulled silently past the perimeter gates. Liam had left Maisie safely guarded by Dr. Bennett’s trusted security staff at the estate. Now, only Liam and Clara remained, stepping onto the tarmac dressed in dark coats, their expressions carved from stone.
Inside the well-lit hangar, a sleek Gulfstream jet sat with its engines whining in low idle. Ground crew were loading heavy leather luggage into the cargo hold. Near the passenger stairs stood Julian Vance, a silver-haired man in a tailored cashmere coat, frantically barking orders into his cell phone while glancing nervously at his watch.
""Julian,"" Liam’s voice boomed across the vast concrete expanse, cutting through the whine of the jet engines.
Julian spun around, dropping his phone onto the tarmac. His eyes widened in sheer, unadulterated terror as he saw Liam Mitchell walking toward him, followed closely by Clara. ""Mitchell? How... how are you alive?""
""Your assassin is currently in federal custody, Julian,"" Clara said, stepping forward with her phone held high, recording the entire encounter. ""And Vanessa has already confessed to everything in exchange for a lighter sentence. She gave up your offshore accounts, your shell companies, and the extortion scheme.""
May you like
Julian’s face twisted into an ugly, desperate sneer. ""You're bluffing! Vanessa wouldn't dare turn on me! That money is mine! The Mitchell empire owes us! Your father crushed my business twenty years ago, and this was just collecting interest!""
Liam closed the distance between them until he was inches from the older man’s face. He didn't raise his fists; he didn't need to. The sheer, towering fury radiating from Liam forced Julian to stumble back against the jet's metal stairs. ""You made my daughter cry,"" Liam whispered, his voice shaking with restrained violence. ""You locked a two-year-old child in a dark closet for weeks to keep your bankrupt family afloat. You have thirty seconds to speak the passphrase into this laptop, or I will let the FBI seize every single asset your lineage owns.""
