Chapter 16 - THE FINAL SHADOW
Elena felt her blood turn to ice as the word 'daughter' echoed inside the high-ceilinged office. She locked eyes with Daniel, whose hand had instantly dropped to his sidearm as his jaw tightened in shock.
"My father died fifteen years ago in a helicopter accident over the Alps," Elena stated, her voice shaking despite her best efforts to remain composure. "Who are you, and how did you get access to this secure frequency?"
The voice on the phone let out a low, aristocratic laugh that chilled Elena to the very core of her soul. The sound of a heavy lighter clicking open echoed softly through the satellite speaker.
"Your father did not die in the Alps, Elena; he merely retired from the public eye to oversee our family's true global operations from London," the man revealed, his tone completely calm and terrifyingly affectionate. "The entire Sterling syndicate was nothing more than a simple stress test I designed to see if you were ready to inherit my true empire."
Daniel leaned closer to the phone, his voice dropping into a lethal, protective growl.
"If you ever come near Elena again, I will hunt you down no matter what country you are hiding in," Daniel threatened with absolute sincerity.
"Save your threats, young man, you performed your bodyguard duties admirably," the father replied smoothly. "But Elena knows better than anyone that bloodline always claims its debt in the end."
A quiet beep signaled that the satellite connection had been terminated from the caller's end, leaving only the sound of heavy wind blowing against the skyscraper's glass windows. The computer monitor on Elena's desk suddenly flickered to life on its own.
A satellite map displayed a dark red vector line originating from a private airfield in London, moving rapidly across the Atlantic Ocean directly toward John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York.
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A final text message flashed across the black screen in bold white lettering: "SEE YOU AT BREAKFAST, MY DEAR CEO."
Elena stood frozen before the glowing monitor as Daniel pulled out his phone to order a full military-grade lockdown of the entire city. The war she thought she had won had only just begun.
