Chapter 59 - Shadows in the Vault
"Lower the detonator, Julianna," Alexander said, his voice terrifyingly calm as he stepped forward, keeping his rifle trained on her chest. "It’s over. Archibald is dead. The offshore syndicate is gone. There is nothing left for you to steal."
"Steal?!" Julianna shrieked, her voice echoing off the frozen dome. "I spent seven years pretending to be Archibald’s dutiful daughter! I gave up my life, my sanity, to build this empire! And then I find out I was just a placeholder? A sterile decoy keeping the seat warm for a little peasant girl who arranges flowers in a seaside village?!"
She pointed the detonator violently toward Elena.
"She has done nothing to earn this! She doesn't even know what this power is! And your father, Alexander—your precious father promised that if I helped him bankrupt the Sterling subsidiaries, he would make me the sole executor!"
"My father used you, Julianna," Alexander replied, his cold eyes unblinking. "Just like he used me. Just like he tried to use Elena. The only difference is, you chose to become a monster to inherit a graveyard."
"Drop your weapons, or I turn this terminal into ash!" Julianna screamed, her thumb hovering over the red arming switch. "If I can't have the Sovereign Trust, neither can you! The moment this terminal burns, the decentralized codes will lock permanently. The entire wealth of the Vance and Sterling dynasties will vanish into the ether, and your precious son will be nothing more than an ordinary bastard!"
Elena stepped past Alexander, her eyes burning with an authority that stunned even Julianna's mercenaries.
"Do it," Elena said coldly.
Julianna froze, her eyes darting in confusion. "What did you say?"
"I said, press the button," Elena repeated, taking another deliberate step forward, her hand gently resting on Leo's head. "Blow it up. I never wanted your billions. I never wanted Alexander's hundred and fifty million. I built a life with my own hands. I grew flowers from dirt while you poisoned everything you touched. If burning this vault sets my son free from this curse, then press it, Julianna. Destroy it all."
The mercenaries exchanged uneasy glances. They were paid in liquid currency; if the trust was destroyed, their contracts were worthless.
"Don't listen to her!" Julianna shouted, panic creeping into her voice as she saw her leverage slipping away. "Kill them! Kill the child first!"
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Before the lead mercenary could pull his trigger, Julian Mercer moved with blinding, inhuman speed.
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