Chapter 9 - The Final Threat
Upstairs in the grand dining room, Marcus was pouring champagne for three senior venture capitalists when his phone began blowing up with hundreds of frantic text alerts from his corporate public relations team.
MARCUS! TURN ON THE INTERNET NOW!
WHAT IS GOING ON AT YOUR HOUSE?!
THE FOUNDATION PAGE IS LIVE! THERE ARE HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE WATCHING!
Marcus’s face drained of all color. He dropped his champagne glass, shattering it against the imported marble floor.
"Excuse me," Marcus stammered to his shocked guests, turning around and sprinting down the dark hallway toward the hidden basement door tucked behind the library bookshelf.
He unlocked the heavy wooden door, ripping it open, his eyes wild with unhinged rage as he ran down the concrete stairs.
"What did you do?!" Marcus shrieked, kicking the steel cage bars with all his strength. "Where is the phone, Clara?! Where is it?!"
Clara tucked the glowing screen tight against her chest, her eyes steady, refusing to cry, refusing to back down. "It's too late, Marcus. They know everything."
Marcus reached into his tailored suit jacket, pulling out a small folding knife from his pocket, his jaw trembling with murderous panic.
"I will tear this whole house down before I let you ruin me!" Marcus screamed, reaching his hand through the bar gap.
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That was the exact millisecond the heavy wooden door smashed against the wall as Officer Ray and the tactical team breached the basement.
👉 What happened to Marcus's high-powered legal team when they tried to bail him out the next morning?
