Daniel Ended His Wedding After Vanessa Humiliated Emily, Then One Guest’s Recording Revealed Why His Sister Had Been Targeted Earlier

Arthur Sterling’s eyes narrowed into slits on the screen. "Status on Eleanor and Julian?"

Cross swiped through incoming tactical feeds, his jaw clenched tight. "A sudden biochemical breach in the high-security subterranean wing. Two minutes ago. Federal guards were overwhelmed by an aerosolized neurotoxin pumped through the primary ventilation ducts."

"Casualties?" Daniel demanded, taking a step toward Cross.

Cross looked up, his eyes grave. "Everyone in Sector 4. Julian Vance. Eleanor Sterling. Both deceased. The clean-up crew left no survivors."

The silence in the study was suffocating.

Emily stumbled back against the bookcase, her breath hitching in her throat. "Eleanor... Aunt Eleanor is dead? They killed their own people?"

"Eleanor was not 'their people,'" Arthur said, his tone devoid of warmth. "She was an expendable cutout. Once Daniel brought the federal prosecutor and the state police into the Grand Ballroom, Eleanor became a liability with an active subpoena. Vanguard does not allow loose ends to testify before grand juries."

Daniel felt an icy rage settle into his bones. His aunt, despite all her venom, greed, and cruelty toward Emily, had been discarded like refuse the second she ceased being useful. But then another realization struck him like a physical blow.

"Vanessa," Daniel said sharply. "Where is Vanessa?"

Cross rapidly tapped the terminal. "Vanessa was transferred under federal protective custody to an auxiliary safehouse in northern Long Island forty minutes before the prison breach. The U.S. Marshals moved her because she was offering state’s evidence against Vance in exchange for immunity."

"Which means Vanguard’s wet-work team is already en route to that safehouse," Daniel said, turning back to the screen. "If she dies, the entire evidentiary chain connecting the syndicate to the Ares Project dies with her. The offshore accounts, the bank routing numbers, the identity of Vanguard's chairman—everything."

Arthur leaned back into his chair, watching his son intently. "You are thinking like a commander now, Daniel. Vanessa betrayed you. She attempted to ruin your sister, orchestrate your financial ruin, and sign your death warrant. Yet, she is the sole living key to destroying our true enemies."

"I don't give a damn about saving Vanessa's life," Daniel said, his voice dropping an octave, cold and uncompromising. "I want her alive so she can spend the next forty years in a federal penitentiary watching Vanguard burn to ash."

Arthur gave a single, slow nod. "Samuel has a tactical unit on standby in Queens. Two armored SUVs, specialized communications jamming gear, and ex-Tier 1 operators. You have thirty minutes before Vanguard's strike team reaches that safehouse, Daniel. If you fail, the Sterling name will be erased from history by sunrise."

"Emily stays with Samuel," Daniel commanded.

"No," Emily interrupted, her voice suddenly fierce. She stepped between Daniel and the screen, her eyes burning with a determination Daniel had never seen in his sister before. "I am not hiding under a desk while you fight this war, Daniel. I am the one Vanessa targeted first. I am the one she called worthless in front of four hundred people. I am going with you."

Daniel looked at his sister, seeing for the first time the same unyielding iron that ran through their father’s veins.