Chapter 6 - The Ultimate Betrayal"A legacy built on human experimentation and blackmail?" I stopped ten feet away from him, my eyes locked on his cold, unblinking stare. "You're sick, Arthur. You died five years ago in the dirt, and that's where you belong."
Arthur chuckled, a dry, grating sound that echoed down the concrete hallway. "Died? Please, Nathan. Do you really think I’d leave my life's work in the hands of a board of directors who panic at the slightest market dip? I staged that crash to test you. To see if you had the killer instinct to run Whitmore Global without my thumb on the scale. And you did. You built it into a monster. A magnificent, ruthless monster."
He stepped aside, revealing the room behind him.
Through a reinforced glass observation window, I saw Julia lying motionless on a medical gynaecological cot, hooked up to an IV drip that pulsed with a slow, rhythmic green light.
My breath caught in my throat. "Julia..."
"She’s alive, Nathan," Arthur said casually, pulling a small silver remote control from his coat pocket. "For now. But the digital dead-man switch wired to this remote is synced directly to my heartbeat monitor. If I die, or if you try anything foolish, the medical locks on her containment chamber seal permanently, and the oxygen is replaced by nitrogen gas. She has exactly ten minutes of air left."
I stared at the remote in his hand, my mind racing through every possible tactical angle. He was holding all the cards. Or so he thought.
"You really think I came down here alone, Arthur?" I asked quietly, a cold smile touching the corners of my lips.
Arthur’s eyes narrowed slightly. "What are you talking about?"
"Walter Briggs isn't just my head of security," I said, stepping closer. "He’s spent the last forty-eight hours legally dismantling your offshore shell corporations. Ten minutes ago, federal marshals armed with emergency asset seizure warrants froze every single account funding Project Janus. Your shadow empire is bankrupt, Arthur. You have no money, no leverage, and no way out."
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Arthur’s face twisted in rage. The smooth, composed patriarch vanished instantly, replaced by a desperate, cornered tyrant. His thumb slammed down onto the red button on the remote control.
“Then we all burn together!” he screamed.
