Chapter 5 - The Family Tree with Rotten Roots"Marcus?" Conrad muttered, his brow furrowing in deep confusion.
He pressed two fingers against the man's carotid artery. A strong pulse, but he was knocked out cold from the fall down the stairs and Brutus's initial tackle.
Conrad grabbed the operative by his tactical vest, dragging his unconscious body down the hallway and back into the study where Elena was waiting.
When the door swung open and Elena saw the face of the man being dragged across the floor, the glass in her hand shattered, shards scattering across the Persian rug as she let out a piercing, strangled scream.
"Marcus?!" she shrieked, stumbling backward until her spine hit the bookshelves. "No! No, that's impossible! He... he died two years ago in a climbing accident in the Alps!"
She stared at the man in the tactical gear as if looking at a decomposing corpse brought back to life.
Conrad dumped Marcus onto the floor near the fire, keeping his gun trained on him just in case the operative was faking unconsciousness. "Your brother is very much alive, Elena. And judging by the gear he's wearing, he’s not here to rescue you. He’s part of the hit squad."
"You're lying," Elena sobbed, pressing her hands over her mouth, tears streaming uncontrollably down her face. "Marcus loved my husband! He was his best friend! He cried at his funeral!"
At that moment, Marcus groaned, his eyelids fluttering open. He winced, bringing a gloved hand up to his throbbing jaw where Brutus had clipped him. As his eyes focused, they drifted from Conrad’s raised pistol over to the trembling woman standing by the bookshelf.
Marcus’s face twisted into an expression of bitter, chilling detachment.
"Well," Marcus rasped, spitting a drop of blood onto the hardwood floor. "Looks like family reunions are getting a bit messy these days, sis."
Elena walked forward slowly, her voice shaking with a mixture of grief and pure fury. "You... you helped them? You helped the Nero Foundation kill Richard? You helped them stage his death while you watched me run across the country like an animal?"
Marcus let out a dry, harsh laugh, ignoring the gun pointed at his head. "Richard was a fool, Elena. He thought he could play hero with the Foundation's ledger. He was going to sink all of us—including our family name. I didn't kill him, but I sure as hell didn't stop them."
"And you're hunting me now because of the flash drive?" Elena whispered, her eyes deadening.
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"Give it to me, El," Marcus said, his tone softening into a twisted mockery of brotherly affection. "Hand it over, and I'll make sure the Chairman lets you vanish. Cross the ocean, live on a beach somewhere. Refuse, and Ashford Manor becomes a mass grave by sunrise."
Before Marcus could finish his sentence, the windows behind him exploded in a shower of glass and lead.
