Chapter 10 - The Confrontation
The heavy rain hammered against the Gulfstream's aluminum fuselage.
Julian stood on the top platform of the airstairs, looking down at Evelyn, who was walking slowly, deliberately toward the foot of the stairs. Federal agents were spreading out behind her, weapons drawn, ordering the flight crew to shut down the engines immediately.
The jet turbines slowly wound down, leaving only the sound of torrential rain and Julian’s ragged breathing.
“Stay back!” Julian screamed, pulling a small silver revolver from his tuxedo jacket and pointing it down at Evelyn. “I swear to God, Evelyn, I’ll put a bullet in your head!”
“Put the gun down, Julian!” Marcus shouted from behind Evelyn, his weapon raised and locked onto his brother. “It’s over! The Swiss accounts are frozen! The Macau warrants have been executed!”
Eleanor leaned over the railing, trembling. “Marcus! How could you betray your own blood? We gave you everything!”
“You gave me a front-row seat to your corruption,” Marcus replied coldly.
Evelyn stopped at the base of the stairs. She didn’t look at the gun Julian was pointing at her heart. She looked straight into his bloodshot, terrified eyes.
“You hit me in front of my daughter,” Evelyn said, her voice chillingly quiet. “You called her a thief. You tried to destroy her life before it even started.”
“She’s my daughter!” Julian shrieked, his finger trembling violently over the trigger. “Everything I did was for the Vance name! You were nothing before you met me! A nobody!”
“I was nobody to you,” Evelyn said, taking a step up the metal stairs. “Because you only know how to value things you can buy, bribe, or break.”
“Don’t take another step!” Julian yelled, cocking the hammer of the revolver.
“Shoot me, Julian,” Evelyn said without blinking, taking another step. “Do it in front of every federal agent in the state. Show the world what a pathetic, cowardly monster you really are.”
Julian’s hand shook violently. He looked at the federal agents flanking the plane, their red laser sights dancing across his chest. He looked at Marcus. Then he looked at Evelyn’s unflinching eyes.
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The realization hit him like a physical blow: he had lost.
His fingers went numb. The silver revolver slipped from his grip, bouncing down the wet metal stairs and clattering to Evelyn’s feet.
