Chapter 7 - The Trap Springs
The maintenance tunnel smelled of damp earth, rust, and old oil. Emily crawled for what felt like hours, her knees bruised and raw, until the narrow passage opened up into a dimly lit storm drain that emptied out near the East River.
The rain had slowed to a steady, miserable drizzle. Across the water, the glittering skyscrapers of Manhattan stood like jagged teeth against the bruised purple sky.
Emily pushed off the heavy iron grate, squeezing out onto the muddy embankment. She gasped for fresh air, tearing off the gas mask. She was safe—for the moment. But the terrifying realization hit her with the force of a physical blow: Daniel stayed back.
She couldn't just run away. He had saved her life at the entrance of Harrison Global, and she wasn't going to abandon him now.
Before she could decide her next move, the crunch of gravel behind her froze her blood.
"Well, well, well," a smooth, cultured voice cut through the sound of dripping water. "Look what crawled out of the drain."
Emily spun around. Standing at the mouth of the storm drain were two men in dark suits, flanked by a towering brute holding a suppressed submachine gun. In the center stood Marcus Vance, his silver hair immaculate, holding an umbrella that kept him completely dry from the drizzle.
Vance stepped closer, his smile condescending and cruel.
"You've been a terrible thorn in my side, little girl," Vance purred, crouching down to her eye level. "If you had just kept your mouth shut and let the limousine roll, none of this would have happened. Daniel Harrison would be a statistic, the merger would have gone through, and you would be eating your little pork dumplings in Chinatown right now."
Emily glared at him, her fear momentarily eclipsed by pure, unadulterated anger. "You're a murderer."
Vance laughed softly, standing back up. "In the corporate world, child, there are only two things: the predators and the prey. And right now? You and your billionaire protector are about to become extinct."
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The towering brute stepped forward, grabbing Emily roughly by her jacket collar and hoisting her off her feet. She kicked and thrashed, but she was too small, too weak against his iron grip.
"Put her in the trunk," Vance ordered coldly, turning away. "We're going to pay a little visit to Daniel's private airfield. Let's see how brave our brilliant CEO is when he has to watch his little savior take her final breath."
