My mother slapped me twice at my engagement party because I refused to hand over my $60,000 inheritance to my sister. Everyone witnessed her trying to humiliate me in front of the people I loved – but what she didn't know was that I had made a decision that would destroy the life she had built on controlling me. / Chapter 25 / 40

Chapter 25 - The Exhibition Attack|

Chloe’s art gallery was situated in a chic, upscale neighborhood, but as the SUV pulled up, the street felt eerily deserted. The evening sun cast long, sinister shadows across the pavement.

“Wait here,” Ethan commanded, drawing a sleek, suppressed pistol from a holster at his back. The sight of the weapon in her fiancé’s hands made Natalie’s stomach churn, but she ignored the nausea, following close behind him as they approached the glass doors.

Inside, the gallery was completely dark. The power had been cut.

“Chloe!” Natalie shouted, her voice echoing off the brick walls.

A sudden, sharp shattering of glass came from the skylight above. Three men clad in black tactical gear dropped into the gallery on zip lines. Ethan reacted with terrifying speed. He pushed Natalie behind a massive marble sculpture and fired twice, dropping the first attacker before the man even hit the ground.

“Get to the back office!” Ethan roared, engaging the other two men in close-quarters combat.

Natalie didn't wait. She sprinted down the hallway, bursting into the manager’s office. Chloe was huddled under the desk, holding a screaming, disheveled woman. Their mother. The woman who had tormented them for years now looked like a cornered rat, her expensive clothes torn and stained.

“Natalie!” the mother shrieked, crawling toward her and grabbing her ankles. “You have the key! Give it to them! Marcus is going to torture us! Give it to them!”

“Shut up!” Natalie snapped, kicking her leg free with a force that surprised even herself. “You sold Dad out to Marcus, didn't you? You knew he was going to be killed.”

“I had to!” her mother wailed. “They threatened me!”