Chapter 7 - The Final Chess Move

Julian backed away, pulling a concealed firearm from his holster. "I’ll kill you both right now!"
Before he could pull the trigger, the marble floor beneath his feet groaned.
A hidden elevator platform slowly rose from the center of the foyer floor. Standing on the platform, holding a glass of scotch and uninjured, was the real Alexander Blackwood.
Julian gasped, dropping his gun in total shock. "Alexander?! But... the carbon monoxide..."
"The ventilation system in the cellar feeds directly into the master suite, brother," Alexander said smoothly, taking a sip of his drink. "I was watching your little speech on the monitor downstairs while enjoying a 1982 vintage."
"You... you all worked together?!" Julian stammered, looking at Alexander, Elena, and Maya. "The feud... the pregnancy... Victoria... it was ALL a setup?!"
"Victoria was guilty of poisoning my mother," Alexander said, his tone turning cold as ice. "She deserved her fate. But you... you were the one who gave her the poison six years ago. You used my mother’s death to frame Victoria’s family and take over their assets."
Elena walked up to Alexander, wrapping her arm around his waist. "We needed you to confess on live stream, Julian. Not just to a local security hard drive... but to the International Criminal Court."
Alexander gestured to the blinking red light of the CCTV camera overhead.
"That camera wasn't just recording local footage," Alexander smiled softly. "It was broadcasting live to over 50 federal agencies across three continents. Your entire mercenary network, your offshore shell companies, and every corrupt official on your payroll have just been arrested simultaneously."
Julian’s face went completely pale. "No... NO! THIS IS IMPOSSIBLE!"
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"The countdown timer you started?" Maya added, showing her phone screen. "It didn't set off explosives in the foundation. It transferred every single cent of your illegal accounts into a global victim compensation fund."
COUNTDOWN COMPLETE: ASSETS TRANSFERRED $4,200,000,000.