Chapter 5: The Glass Castle Shatters
There was no time to panic. I had less than sixty seconds before Charles’s mercenaries breached the penthouse.
I rushed into the bedroom, gently shaking Lucas and Noah awake. “Boys, wake up. We’re playing a game. Remember the child-safety apps we talked about? The ones with the secret hiding places?”
Lucas, blinking away sleep, looked at me with sudden clarity. “The panic room?”
“Exactly,” I said, lifting them both out of bed. In the master closet, behind a rows of suits, was a reinforced steel safe-room I had installed during construction. It was fully stocked with food, water, and an independent communication array.
“Get inside, lock the door from the inner keypad, and do not open it for anyone except me. Do you understand?”
“Daddy, come with us!” Noah cried, grabbing my hand.
I knelt down, kissing both of their foreheads. “I have to go save your Mama. I’m the Daddy, remember? It’s my job to protect this family. I’ll be back. I promise.”
I pushed them inside, hit the lock sequence, and watched the heavy steel door seal shut with a heavy click. They were safe. No mercenary on earth could get through that door in less than twenty-four hours.
Just as the door sealed, the glass of the living room windows shattered inward in an explosion of shards. Three armed men in tactical gear swung in from ropes, their weapons raised.
I didn’t run. I stood in the center of the room, my hands raised.
“Don’t shoot,” I said calmly. “I’m the one you want.”
The lead mercenary stepped forward, knocking me to the ground with the butt of his rifle. Pain exploded across my jaw, but I kept my focus. They searched the penthouse frantically, but found no trace of the boys.
“Where are the kids?” the leader growled, pinning me down.
“Gone,” I lied, spitting blood onto the hardwood floor. “I had them moved hours ago. You want the voting shares? Take me to Charles. I’ll sign whatever he wants. Just don’t touch my family.”
The mercenary glared at me through his visor, then spoke into his radio. “We have Sterling. The kids aren't here. Moving to secondary location.”
They threw a black hood over my head, cuffed my hands behind my back, and dragged me out into the cold night air.
An hour later, the hood was ripped off my face. I was strapped to a chair in the very warehouse I had seen on the video feed. The air smelled of salt and rust—we were somewhere near the Brooklyn naval yards.
Sitting across from me, tied to a matching chair, was Elena.
“Alex,” she whispered, tears streaming down her bruised cheeks. “I’m so sorry. I should have told you years ago... I was just so scared of your family, of what the media would do to our babies...”
“Shh,” I said, looking at her with all the love I had suppressed for nearly a decade. “It’s okay, Elena. You did the right thing. They’re safe. Our boys are safe.”
“How touching,” a voice sneered from the darkness.
Charles Montgomery walked into the light, flanked by Victoria Vance. Victoria looked uncomfortable, avoiding my gaze, but Charles was beaming with absolute arrogance. He placed a stack of legal documents on a table in front of me, along with a pen.
“Sign them, Alex. Sign away the empire, and you and Elena can have your little fairy-tale ending,” Charles smiled.
I looked at the documents. Then I looked up at Victoria.
“Victoria,” I said softly. “You went to law school to fight for justice. You helped me build a company that protects children. Is this really who you are? An accomplice to kidnapping? To murder?”
Victoria flinched. “Alex, it was just supposed to be a corporate buyout! Charles said he was just going to pay Elena to disappear! I didn't know he was going to take her by force!”
“Shut up, Victoria!” Charles snapped, drawing a sleek black pistol from his jacket. He aimed it directly at Elena’s head. “He signs, or she dies. Right now. I’m done playing games.”
I looked at Charles, a slow, cold smile spreading across my face despite the gun pointed at the woman I loved.
“You think you’re the only one who plays chess, Charles?” I said.
May you like
Charles frowned, his finger tightening on the trigger. “What are you talking about?”
“I am the CEO of a multi-billion-dollar technology firm,” I said, my voice echoing with absolute confidence. “Do you really think I didn’t broadcast this entire conversation? Look at your phone, Charles.”
