Chapter 6 - The Ghost of Bloodlines
The cold midnight rain lashed against the windshield of the armored SUV as Evelyn tore through the industrial outskirts of the city. Behind them, two black pursuit trucks crested the overpass, their high beams piercing the downpour like predatory eyes.
Clara gripped the passenger grab-handle, her heart hammering against her ribs. She couldn't tear her gaze away from the woman steering with one hand while adjusting a tactical receiver with the other. "You're my mother. Arthur told me you died of illness when I was seven. He took me to your grave every year!"
"Arthur told you what he needed to so you wouldn't spend your childhood waiting for a ghost," Evelyn replied, her voice stripped of emotion as she floored the gas pedal. "My real family wasn't dead, Clara. They were hunters. The Sterlings and the Vances have been locked in a blood war for three generations. I faked my death to draw the crosshairs away from you."
A bullet struck the SUV's reinforced rear window with a loud crack, shattering the outer laminate.
"Hold on!" Evelyn barked, wrenching the wheel sharply to the right.
The vehicle skidded across the wet asphalt, slamming sideways into the lead pursuer’s front fender. Metal groaned and sparked fiercely as Evelyn pushed the enemy truck off the road, sending it tumbling down the steep concrete embankment into the raging river below.
"We have forty minutes until trading opens on Wall Street," Evelyn said, glancing at the dashboard clock displaying 08:50 AM. "Marcus Sterling—Julian’s father—is hosting a closed-door emergency board meeting at Vance Tower right now. With Arthur in federal custody, they are utilizing an illegal hostile takeover clause."
"They set my father up with that signet ring," Clara said, anger overcoming her confusion. "The transmitter, the framed documents—it was all planned to put him away so they could take Vance Enterprises unopposed."
"Not unopposed," Evelyn pulled a sleek encrypted flash drive from around her neck and threw it into Clara’s lap. "Arthur may be behind bars, but he gave his voting proxy to one person fifteen years ago. Not to his executives. Not to his board."
May you like
Clara stared at the glowing silver drive. "To me."
"To the legitimate heir," Evelyn affirmed, slamming the brakes as the gleaming glass tower of Vance Global Headquarters came into view. "Now dry your tears and straighten your back. You're walking into a den of wolves."
