Chapter 14 - The Poisoned Patriarch
Claire’s mind raced through the mechanics of survival. She didn't look at the paring knife in her pocket; she knew she couldn't take down two trained private security operatives and an armed billionaire with kitchen cutlery. She needed leverage.
"The press conference," Claire said, her voice turning eerily calm, the protective predator taking full control of her trembling limbs. "Tomorrow morning at nine. The media still thinks you’re the reformed philanthropist stepping down to make amends. If a single hair on Lily’s head is touched, Rachel releases the full audit. Not just the rooftop video. The financial trail. The shell corporations. Every single piece of paper linking Apex to the pharmaceutical trial."
Robert chucked, a dry, rattling sound deep in his chest. "Rachel won't be releasing anything, Claire. Her credentials at the DA’s office were revoked two hours ago. Internal Affairs found seventy thousand dollars in marked bills in her desk drawer."
Claire felt a sickening plummet in her gut. They had dismantled her sister in an afternoon.
"So here is the arrangement," Robert continued, taking a step closer, the scent of expensive cologne and medicinal mint washing over her. "You pack two bags. You, Daniel, and Lily will board a private transport at Midway tonight. A private villa in Zurich has been prepared. Lily will continue her schooling under world-class private tutors, and her bi-monthly health evaluations will be conducted in comfort. You will live like royalty. The alternative... is that Child Protective Services removes Lily tonight based on the anonymous domestic abuse filings Daniel’s office prepared three weeks ago."
Claire looked at Daniel. The betrayal was so absolute, so suffocating, that it robbed her of rage. Only cold, calculating hatred remained.
"You had filings prepared?" she asked him quietly.
Daniel’s face was contorted in agony. "They forced me, Claire! They said if I didn't give them leverage over you, they’d stage a car crash! Like they did to Vanessa’s sister!"
"Vanessa’s sister died of cancer!" Claire screamed.
"No," Daniel sobbed. "Her brakes failed on Lake Shore Drive. Vanessa did what she did on that roof because she had a gun to her head, just like me!"
Robert sighed, tapping his cane impatiently on the hardwood. "Enough melodrama. We have forty minutes before the flight window closes. Bring the child down, Claire. Don't make my associates walk up those stairs. It would only frighten her."
Claire looked from the security guards to Robert. Then she noticed something subtle—a faint tremor in Robert’s right hand where it gripped the silver handle of the cane. A sheen of clammy sweat along his hairline. His left pupil was noticeably wider than his right.
"You’re dying," Claire said, the realization hitting her like a bolt of lightning. "The experimental trial... it wasn't for profit. It’s for you."
Robert’s jaw tightened. For a fraction of a second, the mask of supreme power slipped, revealing a terrified, decaying old man clinging to the ledge of his own grave.
"Pack the bags," Robert rasped, his voice dropping its polished veneer.
"No," Claire said.
May you like
Before the guards could react, Claire didn't run for the stairs. She grabbed the heavy brass umbrella stand beside the door and hurled it straight through the bay window facing the street.
***
