Chapter 5
The bodyguards at the base of the sweeping wooden staircase hesitated, caught between the tyrannical matriarch who signed their checks and the legitimate heir of the estate who looked ready to commit murder. The bright, warm chandelier lighting cast heavy, dramatic shadows across Daniel’s face as the devastating grief completely evaporated, replaced by an explosive, blood-chilling wave of primal fury.
Marcus, sweating profusely, reached out to slam the lid of the mahogany coffin shut. "This is over, Daniel! The funeral is proceeding!"
Daniel violently stood up to his full height. With a lightning-fast motion, he forcefully slapped Marcus’s hand away from the casket. The sound of flesh striking flesh cracked like a gunshot through the opulent living room.
"Ah!" Marcus cried out, stumbling backward, clutching his wrist. His predatory smirk completely shattered into a pale, hyper-ventilating mask of pure panic.
"Don't you ever lay a hand on my wife again," Daniel snarled, his face a storm of drenching, primal fury as he bellowed at his family. He turned his gaze to the crowd of horrified guests, recognizing the local police commissioner standing among them.
"Call an ambulance!" Daniel roared, his authoritative, deep American accent commanding absolute obedience. "She is alive and sedated!"
"Nobody is calling an ambulance!" the Mother shrieked, her blonde hair shaking as she lost all semblance of composure. "Commissioner, ignore him! He is deeply unwell!"
"I said call an ambulance right now!" Daniel thundered, pulling his cell phone from his tailored suit pocket and dialing 911 himself. "My wife is pregnant, and she has been poisoned by my brother! I want medics and I want a full investigative unit at this estate immediately!"
"Marcus, do something!" the Mother demanded, her cold calculation turning into frantic desperation. "Get him away from her!"
"I... I can't," Marcus stammered, backing away toward the grand double doors. "He's crazy, Mother. Look at him."
"If you run, Marcus, I will hunt you down to the ends of the earth," Daniel promised, throwing his phone onto the white satin beside Elena's head after putting it on speakerphone. "You tried to murder my family to hide your theft. The audit folder proves everything."
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"You have no proof of anything!" Marcus yelled back, his chest heaving under his dark suit. "That folder is gone! I burned it!"
Daniel’s eyes locked onto his brother's panicked face, a terrifying calmness suddenly washing over his furious features. "You just confessed in a room full of witnesses, you idiot."
