Chapter 6 - The Siege on Lake Michigan

The storm raging over Lake Michigan was the worst Chicago had seen in a decade. Rain hit the floor-to-ceiling glass windows of the mansion like bullets, and thunder shook the entire structure.

I stood in the dark living room of the estate, holding a heavy crystal decanter, watching the rain beat against the glass.

The front doors shattered with a terrifying crash of broken glass and splintered wood.

Heavy, frantic footsteps echoed through the grand foyer.

“EMILY!” Ethan’s voice screamed, filled with unhinged, psychopathic rage. “WHERE ARE YOU, YOU LITTLE BITCH?!”

Beverly’s shrill voice followed right behind him. “Find her, Ethan! The offshore accounts are drained! The bank froze everything! If we don’t get her signature on the power of attorney documents tonight, we are ruined!”

I didn’t run. I didn’t hide.

I slowly walked out into the balcony overlooking the grand foyer.

Down below stood Ethan and Beverly. Ethan was soaked in rain, holding a heavy iron crowbar in his right hand. His eyes were bloodshot, sunken, and wild—the eyes of a man who had lost his mind, his money, and his freedom. Beverly was right beside him, her makeup ruined by the storm, clutching a stack of legal transfer documents.

“You came back,” I said, my voice echoing cold and hollow through the empty mansion.

Ethan looked up, a terrifying, crooked smile spreading across his face. “You thought you could destroy me, Emily? You thought your daddy’s money could protect you? Your daddy is an old man dying of heart failure! He can’t save you tonight!”

“I don’t need my father to save me,” I said, slowly descending the grand marble staircase, step by step. “I realized something in Zurich, Ethan. My father is a monster. Your father was a monster. And you... you’re just a pathetic weakling trying to play their game.”

Ethan gripped the iron crowbar tighter, his knuckles turning white. “Shut up! SHUT UP! Sign the papers, Emily! Transfer the Sterling assets to my mother’s offshore shell company, or I swear to God I will bury you in the back yard where no one will ever find you!”

Beverly stepped forward, shoving a pen toward me. “Sign them, Emily! You owe us! We gave you a family! We gave you a status!”

I looked at Beverly, then at Ethan.

I took the pen from Beverly’s trembling hand.

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The heavy brass key felt impossibly cold against my palm, yet the metal...

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The shards of crystal caught the cold light of the recessed kitchen ceil...

“You’re right,” I whispered softly. “I do owe you.”

CHAPTER 6 HOOK: I took the legal papers, looked Ethan straight in his eyes, and ripped the documents into four pieces, tossing them into the roaring fireplace beside us. Ethan let out a guttural roar, raising the iron crowbar over his head, and charged directly at me.