Chapter 20 - Chapter 20 - THE UNANSWERED CALL
|
Elena didn't flinch. Her heart hammered against her ribs, but her eyes remained cold as ice.
"You're insane, Victoria," Elena said, stepping slowly to the left, shielding the baby with her body. "You're throwing your life away for Julian Vance."
"Julian promised me half the Sterling estate once this brat is dead!" Victoria hissed, raising the gun. "Say goodbye—"
Before Victoria could pull the trigger, Elena slammed her foot into the heavy oak side table. The table crashed into Victoria’s knees, knocking her off balance.
Elena lunged forward, slamming her stun baton directly into Victoria's neck.
A high-voltage crackle filled the room. Victoria let out a choked scream, her body convulsing violently as she collapsed onto the floor, the gun clattering across the hardwood.
Elena didn't wait. She grabbed the infant and sprinted out of the nursery, sliding down the rain-drenched servants' staircase into the courtyard.
Outside, the storm raged in full force. Lightning illuminated the patio where the pool churned violently under the heavy rain.
Marcus burst through the patio doors, bruised and bleeding from his shoulder, but still standing. Behind him, three intruders lay motionless on the wet stone.
"Elena!" Marcus yelled, running toward her through the downpour. "Are you okay? Is the baby okay?"
"He's safe!" Elena called back, wiping rain from her eyes. "Victoria is down!"
Marcus let out a ragged breath of relief, reaching out toward his son.
Suddenly, a metallic buzzing sound vibrated through the rain.
On the stone floor near one of the fallen intruders, a heavy, waterproof satellite phone lit up. It was flashing an incoming call from an unregistered international number.
Elena picked up the ringing phone from the wet ground and hit speakerphone.
A deep, chilling voice echoed through the speaker, cutting right through the sound of the thunder:
"Victoria... report. Is the Sterling heir eliminated?"
Elena held the phone close to her mouth, her voice as hard as steel. "Victoria failed. The baby is alive. And Julian Vance is going to burn."
A cold, dark laugh answered from the other end of the line. A laugh that didn't sound like Julian Vance at all. It was smoother. Older. More terrifying.
"Julian?" the voice chuckled coldly over the static. "Julian was just a distraction, my dear maid. You saved that boy twice... but tell me, Elena... did Marcus ever tell you why his first wife really died? Did he tell you who paid for the stroller you pulled from the water?"
Marcus’s face went completely ghostly white. He stared at the phone in Elena's hand, his lips trembling in absolute horror.
"Who are you?" Elena demanded, holding the crying baby tight against her chest as lightning split the black sky above them.
May you like
The voice on the line whispered one final, haunting sentence before the connection died:
"Ask Marcus about his mother."
