Chapter 18 - The Heavy Ledger—The Husband—The Knockout
I stared at Marcus, my heart hammering a frantic rhythm against my ribs.
He was right. During the chaos at the wedding, when I first hacked the encrypted drive in the study, I had found forty million dollars in Eleanor’s shell accounts. I had quietly rerouted ten million into an untraceable, decentralized crypto wallet before my father even stepped out of the shadows.
It was my severance package for marrying into a family of monsters.
“I don't know what you’re talking about,” I said, keeping my voice perfectly steady.
Marcus slammed his fist onto the table, rattling the coffee cups.
“Don't lie to me!” Marcus hissed, drawing the attention of the barista. He lowered his voice, pulling a small, suppressed pistol from his jacket and keeping it hidden beneath the table. “Transfer the ten million to me right now, Jules. Or I shoot you under this table and walk out before anyone notices.”
He was desperate, ruined, and completely unstable.
“Okay,” I whispered, slowly raising my hands. “Okay. It’s on my laptop. It’s in my bag.”
“Take it out slowly,” Marcus ordered.
I reached down into my heavy canvas tote bag resting on the seat beside me. My fingers bypassed the laptop and wrapped around the thick, hardcover spine of my college accounting textbook—a heavy, thousand-page brick I had carried for sentimental reasons.
I didn't pull the laptop out.
I gripped the textbook, ripped it from the bag, and smashed the heavy, solid spine directly into the center of Marcus’s face with every ounce of strength I had.
A sickening crunch echoed through the coffee shop.
Marcus screamed, dropping the gun onto the floor and clutching his shattered nose. Blood poured through his fingers.
I didn't hesitate. I vaulted over the table, grabbed the dropped pistol, and pointed it squarely at his chest as he writhed on the floor.
“Someone call the police!” the barista screamed.
“I’m not a victim anymore, Marcus,” I breathed, my finger tight on the trigger. “I’m the one who clears the board.”
The next chapters are on the left side of your screen.
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