Chapter 9 - The Crossfire—The Mother’s Shield

The vault erupted into absolute chaos.

Grant raised his pistol and fired a round straight into the chest of Silas’s lead mercenary. The man dropped instantly.

Silas screamed, diving behind the massive steel table in the center of the room as his remaining three guards opened fire with automatic rifles.

The deafening roar of gunfire echoed off the titanium walls. Glass shattered everywhere.

I didn't care about the money. I didn't care about Julian or Silas.

I dove across the floor, sliding across the polished concrete under the hail of bullets, and tackled Ellie off the leather chair, shielding her body with my own behind a marble pillar.

Across the room, Vanessa shrieked as a stray bullet grazed her shoulder. She dropped Leo’s hand and scrambled for cover behind the elevator bank, abandoning the boy in the open.

Leo stood frozen in the crossfire, crying in terror.

“Leo!” I screamed.

Grant was too busy exchanging fire with Silas’s men to notice the boy. Julian was standing safely behind the blast doors, watching the slaughter with a cold, calculating smile.

I didn't think. I moved.

I leaped out from behind the pillar, sprinting straight through the firing line. A bullet tore through the fabric of my coat, grazing my ribs like a hot iron, but I didn't stop.

I tackled Leo to the ground, wrapping my arms around him just as the wall behind us was shredded by automatic fire.

“I’ve got you,” I gasped, holding his trembling body against mine. It was the first time I had ever touched my son. He smelled like vanilla and fear.

Grant reloaded his weapon and shot the last of Silas’s mercenaries in the head.

Silence fell over the vault, broken only by the sound of shell casings rolling across the floor.

Silas slowly stood up from behind the steel table, his hands raised in surrender. “Julian, wait. We can split the trust. You don't have the biometric keys without Mara.”

Julian stepped fully into the room, walking past Grant.

“You’re right, Silas,” Julian said smoothly. “I don't need you.”

Julian pulled a silver revolver from his coat and shot Silas perfectly between the eyes.

My uncle collapsed backward, dead before he hit the floor.

Julian turned his gun toward me as I knelt on the floor, holding both Ellie and Leo tightly against my chest.

“Well done, Mara,” Julian smiled. “You kept them safe for me. Now, use your thumbprint on the main terminal and unlock the fifty billion. Or I shoot you, and raise my children myself.”

Before I could move, Grant stepped forward and aimed his gun at the back of Julian’s head.

“Actually, Julian,” Grant said, a sinister grin spreading across his face. “She’s going to unlock it for me.”

---

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