Chapter 5 - The Price of a Daughter
When the smoke cleared, Tom was on his back, his ears ringing, his vision blurred. He tried to push himself up, but a heavy tactical boot stepped firmly onto his chest, pinning him to the floor.
He looked up through the haze. Victor Sterling stood over him, holding a handkerchief to his nose, flanked by four heavily armed mercenaries. Marcus stood beside him, nursing a bruised shoulder and holding a laptop.
In the corner, a mercenary held a crying, struggling Khloe by her backpack.
"Let her go!" Tom roared, tasting blood in his mouth. He thrashed against the boot, but a mercenary struck him in the ribs with the butt of a rifle, leaving him gasping for air.
"An touching family reunion," Victor said smoothly, walking over to Sarah, who was barely conscious on the bed. He reached into her pocket, found nothing, then turned his cold eyes to Tom. "Where is the drive, Tom?"
"I destroyed it," Tom lied, coughing up blood. "It's gone."
Marcus opened his laptop, his fingers flying across the keyboard. "He's lying, sir. The drive has a localized Bluetooth ping. It's... it's right there." He pointed at Khloe's unicorn water bottle, which had fallen under the medical bed.
A mercenary retrieved it, unscrewed the bottom, and handed the silver flash drive to Victor.
Victor held it up to the light, a cruel smile stretching across his aristocratic face. "Perfect. The culmination of a decade of research. The keys to the kingdom." He looked down at Tom. "And now, for the final piece of the puzzle. Marcus, bring up the transfer documents."
Marcus turned the laptop toward Tom. On the screen was a legally binding, irreversible document transferring 100% of Peterson Global's assets and intellectual property to Sterling Enterprises.
"Sign it, Tom," Victor said, gesturing to the mercenary holding Khloe. The man pulled a sleek, silver syringe from his tactical vest, pressing the needle against Khloe’s small neck. "Sign it, or your daughter receives a lethal dose of the neurotoxin. And since we already have the drive, we no longer need her alive to harvest the cure."
"Daddy! Help me!" Khloe screamed, tears streaming down her face.
Tom looked at the laptop. He looked at the empire he had spent his entire life building—the glass tower, the billions of dollars, the absolute power that had defined his identity. Then he looked at Khloe. He looked at her blue dress, her pink sneakers, and the terrifying terror in the eyes of the little girl who had run across a corporate lobby with a unicorn water bottle just to help a dying stranger.
Biological or not, she was his daughter.
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"I'll sign," Tom whispered, his voice cracking. "I'll sign everything. Just don't hurt her."
HOOK: With trembling fingers, Tom used the digital pen to sign his name, effectively stripping himself of his billionaire status and rendering himself completely penniless. Victor smiled, pocketing the drive. "Thank you, Tom. Now... eliminate them all." The mercenaries raised their weapons, aiming directly at Tom, Sarah, and Khloe.
