Chapter 2 - THE STADIUM'S DARK FOUNDATIONWalter's face drained of color. He shot a frantic look at the two heavily built men who had stepped out of the SUV behind him. They were moving forward, hands hovering dangerously close to their waistbands.
"Don't you dare take another step," I warned, stepping forward so the shadow of the truck fell across us both.
Emily held the drive up so her father could see it clearly. "You thought I was just playing the dutiful corporate strategist for two years, Daddy. You thought I was helping you secure the municipal contracts because I wanted to inherit your empire. But I was copying everything. Every shell company, every offshore transfer, every bribe paid to the city council to approve your underground transit hubs."
The two security men froze. They weren't just hired muscle; they were professionals who knew what happened when an encrypted drive containing syndicate financial records found its way into federal hands. Their employers in Nashville wouldn't just fire them for failing to retrieve it—they would make sure they never existed to begin with.
May you like
"Give me that drive, Emily," Walter said, his voice dropping an octave, turning cold and pleading all at once. "You're destroying our family. You're destroying everything I built for you."
"You didn't build an empire," Emily said, her voice steady as a rock. "You built a cage. And I'm tearing the bars down."
