Chapter 4 - The Betrayal at Midnight
Through the doorway stepped three tall men dressed in tactical black gear, their faces obscured by balaclavas, holding silenced pistols.
Behind them walked Richard Harrington, holding an iron flashlight, his expression completely consumed by madness.
"I gave you a chance to walk away, Julian," Richard sneered, his voice echoing in the dark room. "You should have kept your nose out of my business."
"Richard!" Lady Margaret screamed from her chair, her voice trembling with horror. "Have you lost your mind?! These are hitmen!"
"I lost my mind four years ago when Arthur got everything!" Richard roared, stepping into the room. "Father left seventy percent of the empire to Arthur just because he was born six minutes earlier! I worked twenty years for this family, and I got scraps!"
"You got a hundred million dollars in trust funds, Richard!" Julian barked, his gun leveled directly at the lead hitman’s chest. "You spent it on illegal gambling, failed offshore investments, and bribes!"
"It was mine!" Richard raged. "And I won't let a bastard orphan raised in a diner take it away from me!"
Richard flicked his hand toward the bed. "Kill the child and the nurse. Make it look like an armed home invasion. Shoot Julian."
Before the lead hitman could raise his suppressed weapon, Julian fired two rapid shots—THWIP! THWIP!
The lead hitman collapsed to the floor with a heavy thud.
Julian grabbed Clara and Lily, shoving them into the walk-in closet behind the bed. "Lock the door from the inside, Clara! Don't open it for anyone except me!"
Clara slammed the reinforced mahogany closet door shut, sliding the brass bolt into place just as a hail of suppressed gunfire tore through the bedroom walls.
"Get them!" Richard screamed frantically from the hallway. "Flush them out!"
Julian dove behind the massive oak bed, returning fire. The room was illuminated by flashes of light and the splintering of ancient wood.
Lady Margaret stood up, raising her mahogany cane, and struck the second hitman across the face with all the strength left in her body. The man stumbled back, cursing, and shoved the old lady to the ground.
"Lady Margaret!" Julian yelled.
Seeing his mother hit the floor triggered something ferocious in Julian. He lunged over the bed, tackling the second hitman through the glass coffee table, shattering it into a thousand pieces. They wrestled on the floor, the gunman trying to press his pistol against Julian's neck.
Suddenly, a loud siren began to blare outside the estate windows. Red and blue lights flashed through the rain-soaked glass, illuminating the driveway below.
"Richard! The police!" Evelyn’s voice shrieked from the hallway. "There are twenty tactical cars pulling up the driveway!"
"What?!" Richard paled, dropping his flashlight.
Julian used the distraction to disarm the hitman beneath him, knocking him unconscious with the butt of his pistol. He scrambled to his feet, pointing his weapon directly at Richard's chest.
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"It’s over, Richard," Julian said, breathing heavily, blood trickling from a small cut on his forehead. "I wired this suite with direct audio streaming to the regional police precinct before Dr. Elizabeth opened those test results. Every word of your confession was recorded."
Richard stared at Julian in absolute, paralyzed horror as the sound of heavy boots echoed up the grand staircase.
