Chapter 9 - CORNERED RATS
As the FBI led Vivian out to the private elevator, a sudden scream shattered the pandemonium. Renata, who had apparently recovered and snuck into the building, burst through the service doors holding a shattered glass vase to the throat of Vivian’s terrified secretary. She looked deranged, her expensive clothes covered in Julian's dried blood.
"Nobody moves!" Renata shrieked, backing toward the helipad access doors. "Mom! Come here! We're taking the chopper!"
The FBI agents drew their weapons, but hesitated due to the hostage. Vivian saw her opening. She viciously elbowed the agent holding her and sprinted toward Renata.
"Renata, the keys to the chopper!" Vivian demanded.
Nathaniel stepped forward, his face a mask of calm. "It’s over, Vivian. There is no pilot on the roof. I grounded all company flights an hour ago."
"You lie!" Vivian spat. She pushed the secretary away and grabbed Renata, dragging her daughter-in-law up the stairs toward the roof. Nathaniel and the agents pursued them cautiously.
They burst onto the windy rooftop. The helipad was empty. The rain had started again, washing over the sleek concrete. Vivian let go of Renata, stumbling backward toward the edge of the building. Sirens wailed in the streets fifty stories below, a symphony of her impending doom.
"I built this!" Vivian screamed into the storm, her perfect hair plastered to her face. "I gave you everything, Nathaniel! I protected this empire from that weak, pathetic wife of yours!"
"My wife was stronger in her dying breath than you have ever been in your miserable life," Nathaniel said, walking toward her, unbothered by the wind. "She beat you, Vivian. Her children survived. My bloodline continues. Yours rots in a prison cell."
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Realizing she had absolutely no way out, Vivian’s knees buckled. She collapsed onto the wet concrete, weeping hysterically, not out of remorse, but out of absolute defeat. The FBI agents swarmed her, dragging the broken woman away. Renata sat on the ground, muttering incoherently, utterly broken by the realization that her life of luxury was over forever.
Nathaniel stood alone on the roof for a long moment, letting the rain wash the scent of his old, toxic life away. The storm was finally breaking.
