Chapter 3 - LAIR OF THE VIPER
Chaos erupted.
The restaurant erupted into smoke and screams as heavy smoke grenades were tossed over the outer balcony. Armed men clad in black tactical gear descended from ropes lowered from a dark, unmarked helicopter hovering above the terrace.
"Contractors!" one of Victorâs personal bodyguards yelled before being cut down by suppressed automatic fire. "Protect the CEO!"
Through the thick gray smoke, Evelyn pulled Sophie beneath a heavy oak dining table, covering the little girlâs body with her own. Her heart hammered against her ribs like a trapped bird.
"Mama, I'm scared!" Sophie sobbed, clinging to Evelynâs shirt.
"Shh, baby, I've got you. Mommy's here," Evelyn whispered, kissing the child's forehead. The maternal instinct, buried under three years of grief, flared back to life with terrifying strength. She wasn't going to lose her child a second time. Not tonight. Not ever.
A hand reached through the smoke and grabbed Evelynâs arm. She shrieked and pulled back, ready to fight, but it was Victor. His designer suit was torn, and blood trickled from a cut above his brow.
"We have to go. Now," Victor growled, pulling a hidden keycard from his wallet and swiping it against a brass panel hidden behind a decorative column. A secret service door clicked open. "Victoria didn't act alone. Those aren't her normal security detailâthose are mercenary hitmen."
"She tried to shoot me!" Evelyn screamed over the sound of gunfire.
"She didn't just want you deadâshe wants both of us dead so she can assume total control of the Hale conglomerate through a puppet trust!" Victor yelled, ushering Evelyn and Sophie into the dark concrete staircase behind the panel.
They rushed down five flights of stairs, the sound of heavy boots echoing above them. Victor hit the bar door at the base of the stairs, dragging them out into a rain-slicked back alley behind the restaurant.
A sleek, bulletproof black SUV was idling in the alley. The driverâs side door opened, and an old man with a thick grey beard stepped out, holding a shotgun.
"Master Victor! Get in!" the old man shouted. "The private security comms have been compromised across the entire district!"
"Arthur, get us to the safehouse in the harbor," Victor commanded, throwing open the back door and lifting Sophie inside. Evelyn scrambled in after her, wrapping her arms around her daughter as the heavy armored door slammed shut.
As the SUV roared out of the alley, tires screeching against the wet pavement, Evelyn looked out the tinted rear window.
Standing beneath a streetlamp at the end of the alley was Victoria. She was wiping blood from her cheek, holding a cell phone to her ear, looking directly at the retreating vehicle with an icy, demonic smile.
Inside the SUV, the heavy silence returned, broken only by Sophieâs quiet, rhythmic breathing. Exhausted from the terror, the little girl had fallen asleep, her tiny hands still locked tightly into the fabric of Evelynâs uniform.
Victor sat across from them, applying a handkerchief to his bleeding forehead. He stared at Evelyn with an expression mixed with guilt, confusion, and overwhelming authority.
"You really didn't know," Victor said quietly.
"Know what? That my baby was alive and being raised by a billionaire who thought I was dead?" Evelyn said, her voice dripping with venom. "I spent three years living in a damp basement, working three jobs just to pay off the medical debts your family left me with! You stole my life!"
"I didn't steal anything!" Victor roared softly, mindful of the sleeping child. "I was told my wife died giving birth to my daughter! I was handed Sophie three days later! I have spent three years paying millions of dollars to doctors trying to heal her trauma! I didn't know you existed until ten minutes ago!"
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"Then who signed the order to kill me?" Evelyn demanded.
Victor paused, his eyes darkening. "My father's last will and testament."
