Chapter 2 - Beneath the White Silk
As the broken lid split apart, exposing the dark interior of the casket, Leo dropped to his knees, his
hands trembling violently. Inside lay his mother, Elena, dressed in the elegant white silk gown she had
worn to the annual gala just the night before. Across her mouth was a thick strip of industrial duct
tape, sealing her breath, while a dark, ominous crimson stain smeared across her cheek and collar.
Her wide, terrified eyes locked onto his, filled with a mixture of shock, immense relief, and desperate
warning.
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"Mom!" Leo gasped, his voice cracking with emotion as he immediately reached down to rip the
suffocating tape from her face. "You're still breathing! You're alive!"
Before Elena could even utter a single syllable, a heavy boot slammed into Leo's shoulder, sending
him crashing backward onto the marble tiles. Victor loomed over the open casket, his expression
twisted into a mask of cold fury. He lowered the pistol just enough to glare down at the woman he
thought he had successfully eliminated. "Well, well. It seems my professional associates are getting
sloppy," Victor sneered, his voice dripping with venom. "A sedatives-induced paralysis was supposed
to keep you asleep until the cremation furnace burned this entire chapter away. But I suppose a
curious child with an axe makes for an unpredictable variable."
Elena, now able to speak in a raspy, oxygen-starved whisper, glared up at her brother-in-law with
unyielding defiance. "You’ll never get away with this, Victor. The global audit committee already has
the digital ledger. The board knows about your embezzlement." Victor laughed darkly, pressing the
May you like
barrel of the gun against Elena's forehead as she lay trapped inside the wooden prison.
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