Chapter 4 - The Lazarus Awakening
For three agonizing seconds, no one breathed.
Isabella froze mid-motion, her lace handkerchief slipping from her fingers to flutter softly onto the Persian rug. Her face drained of every drop of color, turning the stark, chalky white of a corpse. Beside her, Adrian staggered backward, his heels catching the edge of the heavy oak table, his eyes bulging as if he were staring straight into the gates of hell.
"G-Giancarlo?" Adrian stammered, his voice pitching upward in sheer, unadulterated terror. "Y-you're... the coroner said..."
"The coroner needs to update his credentials," Giancarlo said smoothly, his heavy, deliberate footsteps clicking against the floor like a death march as he walked toward the head of the table.
Behind him walked Rosa, carrying a large, heavy silver tray covered by a black velvet cloth, flanked by Dante and four hulking syndicate enforcers carrying submachine guns at port arms.
"How... how is this possible?" Isabella whispered, her voice a cracked, hysterical wheeze as she pressed herself back against her chair, clutching the armrests until her knuckles turned white. "We checked... you drank..."
Giancarlo stopped two feet from his trembling, newly minted bride. He looked down at her with a gaze so cold it dropped the temperature in the room by ten degrees.
"You thought I drank the whiskey, didn't you, Isabella?" Giancarlo asked, his voice carrying effortlessly across the silent, paralyzed room. "You and my dearest, most trusted friend Adrian stood right over me last night, whispering sweet little lullabies about my funeral, my wealth, and your future together."
Adrian’s face turned purple, sweat pouring down his forehead as he scrambled to regain his composure, instinctively reaching toward his jacket holster.
"Don't do it, Adrian," Dante warned, leveling the barrel of his Sig Sauer directly at Adrian’s chest from across the table. The four enforcers immediately raised their weapons, training their red laser sights squarely on Adrian, Marcus, and the three board members who had looked too eager to sign the transfer papers.
"This is a trick!" Adrian shouted, his voice cracking wildly as he tried to rally the room. "He’s hallucinating! He’s trying to stage a coup against the board! Security, remove him!"
May you like
"Which security?" Giancarlo asked, raising an eyebrow. "The guards at the gate you bribed? Or the night sweepers carrying your encrypted comms devices?"
Giancarlo turned his gaze to the terrified board members. "Gentlemen, please take your seats. We have a very important recording to listen to."
