Chapter 8 - The Poison of Doubt
Christian stood motionless in the freezing drizzle, his gaze fixed on Viktor Moretti’s mocking face. The rain beat against the white envelope on the ground, dampening the paper until the dark print underneath began to show through the translucent fibers.
""You think a few fabricated bank slips will turn me against my own house?"" Christian said, his tone icy and controlled, refusing to give Viktor the satisfaction of a reaction.
""Fabricated?"" Viktor laughed, leaning heavily on his cane. ""Call your financial hackers, Christian. Look up account number 884-Bravo in the Cayman branch. Look at who authorized the medical bills for that little bastard girl of yours. It wasn't your foundation. It was my payroll.""
Christian’s jaw tightened imperceptibly. He felt a cold knot tighten in his gut. The timeline aligned far too cleanly. Serena’s sudden reappearance, the breached harbor, the sniper aimed at the solarium—it all pointed toward an insider who knew the exact floor plans and patrol rotations of the estate.
""Why tell me now?"" Christian asked. ""If she's your asset, you just burned her.""
""Because she failed,"" Viktor spat, his pleasant veneer dropping to reveal the vicious predator underneath. ""She was supposed to put two drops of thallium in your morning tea. The tea you spilled, Christian. The cup the little girl broke.""
The memory flashed through Christian's mind with sickening clarity: Serena kneeling among the shattered teacup, her hands shaking, her eyes wide with terror. She hadn't tripped. Mia had knocked the cup out of her hands.
""She hesitated,"" Viktor continued, shaking his head with disgust. ""Motherhood made her weak. So now, the deal changes. Hand over Serena and the child. Give me the harbor access codes, and I let you die on your own terms. Refuse, and my boys will flatten this compound with mortars within the hour.""
Christian looked at Viktor for a long, quiet moment. He took a slow breath, the cold damp air filling his lungs.
""You made a mistake, Viktor,"" Christian said softly.
Viktor frowned. ""And what is that?""
Christian pulled his gun from his coat in a blur of motion, leveled the barrel through the iron bars, and fired a bullet directly through Viktor’s right kneecap.
Viktor shrieked in agony, collapsing against his cane before hitting the wet pavement with a sickening crunch. The men inside the black SUVs immediately racked their weapons, doors flying open.
""You brought a negotiation to a father,"" Christian shouted over Viktor's screams as the Vance snipers on the roof opened fire, mowing down the frontline of Moretti’s men in a deafening crescendo of automatic fire. ""Julian! Light them up!""
Christian turned and sprinted back into the mansion as mortar shells began to detonate along the perimeter walls, the earth shaking beneath his boots. He reached the bunker in record time, his mind an inferno of rage and betrayal. He swiped his access card and pounded on the steel safe room door.
""Open it!"" he roared.
May you like
The door unsealed. Serena stood there, looking pale and frightened, holding Mia behind her skirts.
Christian marched inside, grabbed Serena by the throat, and slammed her against the concrete wall, his eyes burning with lethal betrayal. ""Did you poison my tea?""
