Chapter 10
The guards moved swiftly, grabbing Kevin by the arms and hauling him to his feet. He thrashed and wailed, begging for his father to intervene, but Richard simply stood frozen, powerless to stop the terrifying woman his daughter had become.
As Kevin was dragged away toward the subterranean garage, Claire turned her icy gaze to Richard.
"And what about me, Claire?" Richard asked, his voice a hollow whisper. "Are you sending me to the freighters too?"
"No," Claire said, smoothing the front of her ruined, mud-stained blouse. "You get to live in the small guest house on the edge of the property. You will have no access to phones, no internet, and no contact with the outside world. You will spend the rest of your days watching me run the empire you were too weak to hold onto."
Richard bowed his head in total defeat. "You are a monster."
"I am the boss," Claire corrected. "There is a difference."
She signaled to Marcus, who escorted the broken old man away across the vibrant green grass.
Claire stood alone on the patio amidst the wreckage of the barbecue station and the smashed birthday cake. The bright, cinematic sunlight was beginning to shift into the golden hour, casting long shadows across the yard. The remaining guests were quietly, frantically ushering themselves out of the side gates, terrified to make a sound.
Claire finally let out a long, slow breath. She looked down at her hands, her knuckles still slightly bruised from the impact against Kevin’s jaw. She had secured her throne. She had protected Noah. The secret was out, and the Morgan family was now undeniably hers.
Suddenly, the heavy matte-black card she was holding vibrated.
Claire frowned. The card was equipped with a micro-receiver, an emergency beacon linked directly to the syndicate's offshore holding bank. It only vibrated when an unauthorized, Level-1 breach was occurring in real-time.
She flipped the card over and pressed her thumb against the biometric sensor on the back. A tiny, built-in OLED screen blinked to life.
The text on the screen flashed in bright red letters:
WARNING. MASTER ACCOUNT ROUTING. $50,000,000 TRANSFER INITIATED.
Claire’s blood ran cold. The fair, rosy skin of her face tightened. Kevin had only stolen two million. Someone else—someone with access to the highest tier of the Morgan cipher—was currently draining the entire empire's liquid assets.
"Marcus," Claire said, her voice dropping to a dangerous, lethal whisper as the guard returned to the patio.
May you like
"Yes, Boss?" Marcus asked, sensing the immediate shift in her demeanor.
"Lock down the estate," Claire commanded, her eyes locked on the draining numbers on the tiny screen. "And get the helicopter ready. We are being robbed."
