Chapter 14 - Blood Against Blood
A ferocious roar tore through the front entryway, vibrating the very foundations of the house.
"Victoria!" Daniel’s voice thundered, raw with feral, unhinged fury.
Heavy boots slammed across the broken wood in the foyer, moving with terrifying speed toward the master bedroom.
"Ah, the prodigal son arrives right on schedule," Victoria's voice sneered from the bedroom hallway.
Emily slowly cracked open the closet door, peer-ing through the darkness of the bedroom toward the hallway archway.
Daniel stood in the doorway, chest heaving, his face pale and drenched in sweat, holding a heavy tire iron in his gloved hand.
Behind him, two tall men in dark suits stepped into the corridor, blocking his escape route.
Victoria stood between them, dressed in a sharp charcoal coat, her silver hair pulled back into a severe bun.
She looked like an older, colder version of Evelyn Vance.
"Put the weapon down, Daniel," Victoria said, not flinching an inch. "You are embarrassing what remains of our name."
"Get out of Emily’s house," Daniel snarled, stepping forward with the tire iron raised.
"Or what?" Victoria mocked, raising an eyebrow. "You will strike your own aunt? You already slapped your wife on camera. The press loves you, Daniel."
"I will kill you where you stand if you take another step toward that closet," Daniel said, his voice dropping into a deadly whisper.
For the first time since Emily had known him, Daniel looked truly dangerous.
The polished, spineless corporate golden boy had vanished; in his place stood a father driven beyond the brink of sanity.
"You don't have the stomach for violence, Daniel," Victoria said with a dismissive wave of her gloved hand. "Take him outside, boys."
One of the suited men lunged forward, reaching for Daniel's collar with professional precision.
Daniel didn't flinch.
He swung the heavy steel iron with blinding speed, striking the man across the shoulder with a sickening crack.
The man collapsed to his knees with a choked groan of agony.
The second bodyguard rushed forward, tackling Daniel around the waist and slamming him violently against the drywall.
The impact punched the breath from Daniel’s lungs, but he fought like a rabid animal, gouging at the man’s eyes and throwing wild elbows.
"Daniel!" Emily screamed, stepping out of the closet with her heavy flashlight raised high.
Victoria turned her head, surprised by Emily’s sudden appearance.
Emily didn't hesitate for a single second.
She brought the heavy steel flashlight down directly onto Victoria’s collarbone with all the maternal fury built inside her soul.
Victoria shrieked, stumbling back into the hallway console table and knocking over a crystal vase that shattered across the floor.
"You filthy little peasant!" Victoria spat, clutching her shoulder in agony.
Daniel drove his knee into the second bodyguard’s groin, breaking free from his grip and shoving the man back through the shattered front doorway.
Sirens wailed in the distance, growing louder with every passing second.
The distraction worked; the diversion on the main avenue had clearly failed to hold the authorities long enough.
Victoria glared at Emily with eyes full of pure, undiluted hatred.
"You think this is over?" Victoria hissed, backing toward the front entrance as her injured guards struggled to their feet.
"Your daughter belongs to the Vance empire, Emily. And Evelyn has already set the final plan in motion."
"Get out!" Emily screamed, raising the flashlight again.
Victoria sneered, turning on her heel and slipping out into the night alongside her battered security team.
The house fell into a stunned, ringing silence, punctuated only by the distant wail of approaching sirens.
Daniel dropped the tire iron, sinking down against the hallway wall, his shirt torn and blood dripping from a cut above his brow.
He looked up at Emily, his eyes filled with profound shame and desperate relief.
"Sophie..." Daniel wheezed, clutching his bruised ribs. "Is Sophie safe?"
Emily lowered the weapon, her chest heaving as she stared at the man who had failed her so many times.
Yet today, he had bled for them.
"She's in the closet," Emily whispered softly. "She's unharmed."
Daniel buried his bruised face in his bloody hands, weeping with deep, racking sobs of sheer gratitude.
Before Emily could speak, Sophie’s small voice drifted out from the closet darkness.
"Mommy... the lady left her phone on the floor."
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Emily turned toward the closet threshold, where a sleek, encrypted smartphone lay glowing with an incoming video call.
The caller ID displayed a single name: *Detention Facility - Evelyn Vance.*
