Chapter 16
With the Commission utterly subdued and her authority absolute, Emily returned to the Moretti estate. The sprawling mansion was heavily fortified, bathed in the bright, natural light of the late afternoon. She walked directly past the grand staircase and descended into the subterranean holding cells.
The heavy steel doors unlocked with a harsh metallic clang. Inside the bleak, concrete room, Ryan and Natalie were zip-tied to heavy iron chairs. They had spent the last twenty-four hours in absolute darkness, without food or water. The bright tactical lights of Emily's guards snapped on, blinding the prisoners.
"Emily!" Ryan gasped, his shattered jaw wired shut by a syndicate medic, his speech slurred and pathetic. "Please! The Commission... they won't let you do this!"
"The Commission works for me now," Emily stated coldly, standing in the center of the room. She wore her tailored dark suit like a suit of armor.
Natalie wept hysterically, her fitted red dress torn and stained. "I'm sorry! I'll leave! I'll never come back! Just let me go to my baby!"
"Your child has been safely relocated to a private, heavily funded estate in the countryside," Emily murmured, her voice devoid of any human empathy. "He will be raised by professionals, entirely insulated from the poison of your bloodline. He will never know your name."
May you like
"No!" Natalie shrieked, thrashing against the heavy zip-ties. "You can't take my son!"
"You chained my son to a doghouse," Emily whispered softly, stepping closer. "You starved him for your own amusement. You are entirely unfit to breathe the same air as a child."
