Chapter 5 - Betrayal in the Ranks
The heavy oak door burst open, and the two guards stormed into the room, guns drawn. Within seconds, Margaret was restrained, her arms pinned behind her back as she shrieked curses in a foreign tongue.
Ten minutes later, the basement interrogation facility beneath the mansion—a room Sophia never knew existed—was filled with an oppressive, deadly silence. Viktor Vance sat on a steel chair opposite Margaret, who was zip-tied to a heavy iron post. Sophia stood near the concrete stairs, holding a sleeping Emma in her arms, summoned by Viktor to recount every detail of the incident.
"You," Viktor said, his voice terrifyingly calm—a whisper that carried more menace than a shout. "You were with my family for twenty years, Margaret. My father hired you."
Margaret chuckled bitterly, spitting blood onto the concrete floor. "Your father was a king, Viktor! You... you were weak. You let that foreign woman soften you! She was changing the business! She wanted you to sell off the smuggling routes, to go legitimate!"
"So you poisoned her," Viktor stated, his grey eyes turning to ice. "Day by day. Drop by drop."
"She was destroying the syndicate!" Margaret shouted, her eyes wild with fanatic devotion. "And I wasn't acting alone! You think a head housekeeper plans a coup by herself? You're blind, Viktor! The entire inner council knows you've lost your edge since Elena died!"
Viktor stood up slowly. He pulled a silver cigarette case from his pocket, lit one, and took a long drag. "Where did you get the toxin, Margaret?"
"Find out yourself," she sneered.
Viktor glanced at Marcus, who was standing quietly in the corner of the room. "Marcus. Take her to the holding cell. We will process her later."
"Yes, Boss," Marcus replied smoothly. He stepped forward to grab Margaret.
As Marcus bent down to unbuckle Margaret from the iron post, Emma stirred in Sophia’s arms. The toddler opened her sleepy eyes, looked at Marcus, and pointed at his belt.
"Mommy... look," Emma mumbled softly, her voice carrying in the quiet room. "The snake man has the silver key too."
The room plunged into a dead, suffocating freeze.
Viktor halted mid-step. Sophia looked down at Marcus’s waist. Slipping out from beneath his tailored suit jacket was a silver keychain—holding a distinctive, crescent-shaped key that matched the lock on Elena’s rosewood box, a master key that only two people in the world were supposed to possess.
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"Marcus?" Viktor whispered, his hand sliding instinctively toward the holster hidden inside his jacket.
Marcus didn't hesitate. In a flash of terrifying speed, he drew his weapon, firing a shot directly at Viktor.
