Chapter 12: The Hostage
Chapter 12: The Hostage
Before Ethan could fully process the staggering gravity of the betrayal within his own empire, a deafening explosion ripped through the room. The mercenaries had used C4. The heavy oak doors of the study were blown clean off their steel hinges, splintering into deadly shrapnel. Thick, acrid gray smoke billowed into the room.
Ethan was thrown backward over a desk, his head striking the floor hard, forcing him to drop his weapon. Rosa threw herself over Lily, shielding the child with her body as debris rained down on them, coughing violently against the dust.
Through the thick smoke, Vanessa stepped into the ruined study, flanked by two heavily armed guards wearing respirators. She didn't look like a high-society socialite anymore; she looked like a cold-blooded executioner. Before Rosa could recover from the blast, Vanessa lunged forward and snatched Lily by her tiny arm, dragging the screaming child away from her mother's grasp.
"No! Leave her alone!" Rosa shrieked, lunging forward like a wild animal. But one of the guards stepped up and struck her brutally in the stomach with the butt of his rifle, sending her collapsing to the floor, gasping for air.
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Vanessa pulled Lily against her, pressing the cold steel of a small, silver pistol directly to the little girl's temple. Lily clutched her cloth rabbit, tears streaming down her soot-stained face, too utterly terrified to make a sound.
"The drive, Rosa," Vanessa commanded, her voice ringing out over the ringing in their ears, utterly devoid of humanity. "Hand it over right now, or the little pianist loses her hands."
