Chapter 13 - THE HOSTAGE OF INHERITANCEBefore Adrian could lunge forward to grab her, two masked figures emerged from the shadows behind Elena, each pressing a cold, lethal-looking firearm directly against the doorframe—and aiming straight at Sophie.
"Ah-ah, Mr. Vance," Elena warned, her smile vanishing into a look of predatory coldness. "Don't test my patience. I didn't come here to negotiate. I came to collect."
"Collect what?" Adrian snarled, his muscles coiled like a spring, weighing the split-second odds of disarming the armed thugs to protect his daughter.
"Everything," Elena replied flatly. "You sign over full operational control of the Vance Foundation and your personal estate by sunrise tomorrow, or this room becomes a crime scene. And this time, there won't be any security cameras to save you. The offline backup servers? I wiped them ten minutes ago when I hacked your mansion's mainframe."
Sophie looked at her father, her heart hammering against her ribs. She knew Elena wasn't bluffing. This wasn't just about corporate greed anymore; it was an execution disguised as a corporate buyout.
"Dad, don't," Sophie whispered fiercely, gripping his arm. "If you sign, we lose everything anyway. She’ll kill us the moment the ink dries."
Elena’s eyes flashed with annoyance. "Smart girl. But you don't have a choice."
She pulled a thick, leather-bound document and a golden fountain pen from her trench coat pocket, tossing them onto Sophie’s desk. They landed with a sharp, heavy thud.
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"You have until dawn," Elena whispered, turning on her heel. "Think very carefully about whether your pride is worth your daughter’s heartbeat."
With a swift swirl of her coat, Elena vanished back into the dark hallway, her henchmen backing away slowly before disappearing into the night, leaving behind an oppressive, heavy silence.
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