Chapter 10
393words
Come alone or watch him die on livestream!"
I crouched beside the camera tripod, watching the pre-recorded footage with a critical eye.
"Will they actually show up?"
As if in answer, Nathaniel's phone buzzed.
"10 AM tomorrow. We'll bring the money. Don't harm him."
Nathaniel shrugged off the prop restraints and typed a response.
"See? They need me alive as their scapegoat. My death would be terribly inconvenient for them!"
"Where are you? Have you abandoned your son?"
Masked, I stood over the "captive" Nathaniel and sent another message from a burner phone.
The moment I hit send, a notification sound echoed from somewhere nearby.
My blood froze as realization dawned.
"Looking for something, darling?"
Victor Sinclair emerged from the shadows, ripping the mask from my face with savage satisfaction.
The elder Sinclairs stepped into view, flanked by security personnel.
"Did you really think we wouldn't recognize such an obvious trap?"
I retreated slowly, eyes darting for escape routes.
"Yet here you are—desperate to frame Nathaniel before he exposes you?
Victor, I've misjudged you completely!"
Victor laughed coldly, not bothering to deny it.
"You're just another lovesick fool—as pathetically gullible as all the others!
So I used you? Love and sincerity are commodities I can purchase with pocket change."
He thrust his phone in my face triumphantly.
"See this? You're being crucified online!
You're the gold-digging engineer who manipulated me and deceived my parents.
The fraud charges are ready to file—you'll rot in prison when this is over!"
Rage surged through me as I slapped the phone from his hand.
"You manipulative sociopath!"
Victor remained smugly confident.
Eleanor Sinclair stepped forward and struck me with surprising force.
"Scheming whore! I knew you were trouble from the start. You've nearly destroyed everything we've built!"
"You've earned what's coming. Don't expect mercy from us."
With that, Harrison Sinclair viciously kicked the bound Nathaniel.
"Mmmmph!"
Nathaniel glared defiantly as Harrison produced a knife and plunged it repeatedly into his son's body.
Blood spread across the concrete as Nathaniel convulsed in apparent agony.
"You've always been the unpredictable one, son. Did you really think we'd let you threaten everything we've built? This proves we were right about you all along."
As he spoke, Eleanor produced the contracts we'd shown to their business partners.
