Chapter 9 - The Night Isabel Tried to Make Me Choose Between Love and My Mother's LifeIsabel held my mother at gunpoint.
Ambrose stood beside her.
Matthew raised his weapon.
“Put it down.”
Ambrose smiled.
“You're in no position to negotiate.”
Gabriel looked at him.
“You should know better.”
Ambrose laughed.
“Don't pretend you're loyal.”
Gabriel's face hardened.
“You're finished.”
“Perhaps.”
Ambrose looked at me.
“But Elena isn't.”
He held up the transfer documents.
“Sign, and your mother lives.”
“No.”
Isabel's eyes narrowed.
“Then she dies.”
My mother shook her head.
“Don't sign.”
I stared at her.
“What?”
“Your father wanted you to destroy the company.”
“But I don't want you to die.”
“You don't need to sacrifice yourself.”
Isabel lifted the gun.
“Ten seconds.”
Matthew stepped forward.
“You don't have to do this.”
Isabel laughed.
“This is what happens when people underestimate me.”
She pointed at me.
“Sign.”
I walked toward the table.
Matthew whispered:
“Elena.”
I looked back.
He nodded once.
I understood.
He had a plan.
I picked up the pen.
My hand shook.
I signed the first page.
Then the second.
Then the third.
Isabel smiled.
“Good girl.”
I nearly vomited.
She reached for the documents.
But I didn't let go.
“I need my mother first.”
“No.”
“You promised.”
“I changed my mind.”
Matthew moved.
Everything happened at once.
Gabriel shot the gun from Isabel's hand.
Matthew tackled Ambrose.
My mother ran.
I grabbed the documents.
Security flooded the room.
Isabel escaped through a side door.
Ambrose was pinned to the ground.
“Your empire is over,” Matthew told him.
Ambrose laughed.
“You think paper can destroy me?”
I looked at the signed documents.
“You're right.”
He smiled.
“Then what?”
I tore the papers in half.
His smile vanished.
“That wasn't the real transfer.”
I held up a second set.
The original.
The set I had signed contained a hidden clause.
My father had written it years ago.
Any forced signature is legally void.
Ambrose's face collapsed.
He screamed.
“You little—”
Police entered.
Isabel was captured outside.
She fought until the last second.
Then she saw my mother.
Her face changed.
For the first time, I saw fear.
My mother looked at her.
“You lost.”
Isabel whispered:
“You think this is over.”
I smiled.
“It is.”
But Matthew wasn't smiling.
He was staring at the documents.
“What?”
“The activation code.”
“What about it?”
He looked at me.
“You didn't sign it.”
I froze.
“What?”
“The trust still isn't activated.”
My heart dropped.
“Then what do we do?”
“We need the original key.”
I held up the metal key.
“No.”
He shook his head.
“The other one.”
“The other one?”
Gabriel stepped forward.
“There's a second key.”
“Where?”
He looked at Ambrose.
Ambrose laughed.
“You'll never find it.”
Matthew approached him.
“Where is it?”
Ambrose smiled.
“With the dead man.”
“Who?”
“Your father.”
Matthew froze.
“My father died ten years ago.”
Ambrose laughed.
“Did he?”
My blood chilled.
“Your father may still be alive.”
Matthew stared.
May you like
The war wasn't over.
It had just changed.
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