Chapter 11
The Sikorsky helicopter tore through the freezing midnight sky, its heavy rotors beating a deafening, rhythmic pulse over the glittering Manhattan skyline. Inside the heavily armored, leather-lined cabin, the silence between Arthur and Eleanor was far heavier than the mechanical hum of the aircraft. "He had the Master Sovereign key," Arthur rumbled, his gray eyes fixed furiously on the rapidly approaching spire of the Blackwood Tower. "I explicitly entrusted Jonathan with that algorithm to protect our bloodline, and he used it to authorize your daughter's kidnapping to a Swiss clinic." "He partnered with a complete coward," Eleanor replied, her voice as cold as absolute zero. "Our field agents confirmed Jonathan met Julian at a private aviation hangar in Teterboro to plan this exact betrayal. Julian desperately wanted Genevieve's logistics network, and Jonathan promised him a forty-percent stake in Blackwood Logistics just to get me out of the succession line." "He will face the exact same total annihilation as the Sterlings," Arthur said, his massive, weathered hands curling tightly into fists. "No one betrays this family and survives the market open. Not even my own son." "I don't just want him financially ruined, Father. I want him entirely erased from the board," Eleanor said, glancing at the titanium-encased satellite phone resting in her palm. "He foolishly thinks because I lived on a meager allowance in a threadbare apartment for five years, I somehow lost my teeth. He thinks playing housewife made me weak." Harrison leaned forward from the jump seat, his encrypted tablet glowing in the dim light. "Director Blackwood, we are on final approach. Jonathan has fully locked down the seventy-second floor and deployed a private mercenary detail. They are heavily armed and have standing orders to shoot." "Let him have his expensive mercenaries," Eleanor said, her hazel eyes completely devoid of warmth, replaced by an unyielding void. "I just revoked every third-party proxy granted under the Vance surname. Now, I’m going to show my brother what full executive deployment truly looks like." The helicopter banked sharply, the landing skids touching down violently on the rooftop helipad. Eleanor unbuckled her harness, her tailored navy pantsuit entirely unwrinkled.
