Chapter 292: ~ 291
Chapter 291
~Octavia~
The moment Franklin’s voice boomed from the ceiling, Maria completely changed. The elegant, calm woman vanished. In her place stood a cornered, angry animal.
Three small red laser dots from the police snipers lit up her black coat. Two were on her chest, and one was right on her wrist holding the detonator. She knew she was caught. She knew she had lost. But instead of giving up, she began to laugh. It was a loud, chilling sound that echoed through the empty, cold warehouse.
"You think you are so smart, Franklin!" Maria screamed, tilting her head up toward the dark rafters where Franklin was climbing down. "You think you have won!"
I stayed on my knees, my eyes glued to Lael’s pink blanket just a few feet away. My heart was beating like a drum inside my chest. I wanted to lunge forward and grab my baby, but the red light on Maria’s hand told me to wait. One wrong move, and she would press the button.
Franklin dropped down from the bottom of the iron ladder. His face was twisted with absolute rage. He looked huge in the dim light, stepping between Maria and me like a protective wall.
"Drop it, Maria," Franklin said. His voice was low and dangerous. "It is over."
"Over?" Maria sneered. She didn’t look at the red dots on her clothes. She didn’t look at the police shadows moving behind the old cargo boxes. She just stared at Franklin with eyes full of pure hatred. "Nothing is over. You are just like your pathetic mother and father. So full of pride. So sure of your little empire."
She turned her eyes to me, looking down her nose as if I were dirt beneath her expensive shoes.
"And you," she hissed at me. "You actually felt sorry for my pathetic boy, Flynn, didn’t you? He is a weak, soft coward. Just like his father was. It was so easy to break him. I didn’t even have to try. I raised him to be a tool, a weapon to smash your perfect little family. He was happy to run away to America, thinking he was escaping me. He never realized I was the one who pushed him out the door!"
She laughed again, a harsh, mean sound.
"I set him up with the accident," she bragged, her voice dripping with malice. "I knew you would rush to save him, Franklin. You are so predictable. I used my own son as a piece of garbage just to clear the path to your nursery."
Franklin took a slow step forward, his fists clenched so tight his knuckles turned white. "Shut up, Maria."
"Why? Does the truth hurt?" Maria mocked. She took a step backward, closer to Lael’s car seat. My breath caught in my throat. I wanted to scream, but the fear choked me.
"You look so much like your mother, Franklin," Maria said, her voice shifting into a terrible, mocking sweet tone. "It disgusts me. The golden girl. Everyone loved her. Your father chose her. The family chose her. I was left with nothing in Europe while she sat in this giant mansion playing the queen."
She shook her head, her severe hairstyle finally coming loose, strands of hair falling around her face like wild snakes.
"I hated her every single day of my life," Maria whispered fiercely. "I hated her smile. I hated her kindness. I hated that she had a perfect son like you. This was never just about the money or the shipping docks, Franklin. I wanted to look into your eyes while you wept over your broken family. I wanted to watch my sister’s bloodline cry the exact same tears I cried for decades."
Franklin’s chest was heaving. He was trying so hard to control his anger for the sake of our baby. "She is dead, Maria. Leave her out of this."
"Oh, I know she’s dead," Maria said. A dark, twisted smile spread across her lips. Her eyes gleamed with a horrible, secret joy. "I know exactly how she died."
The warehouse became completely silent. Even the wind outside seemed to stop.
"What did you say?" Franklin asked. His voice wasn’t a rumble anymore. It was a cold, terrifying whisper.
"The car accident," Maria purred, leaning forward as if she were telling a bedtime story. "Years ago. The rainy night your mother and father drove off the winding cliff road. The police said the brakes just failed, didn’t they? They called it a tragic accident."
She tapped her temple with her free hand, her smile widening into a terrifying grin.
"It wasn’t an accident, Franklin. I paid the mechanic to cut the lines. I watched them get into that car. I watched them drive away, knowing they would never reach the bottom of that hill alive. I killed your mother, Franklin. I killed your father. And I would do it all over again just to see the look on your face right now."
Something inside Franklin completely snapped.
The mention of his parents’ murder turned his controlled anger into a wild, unstoppable fury. With a deafening roar, Franklin lost all control. He didn’t care about the plan anymore. He didn’t care about the snipers. He lunged forward like a raging storm, his hands reaching straight for Maria’s throat.
"Franklin, no!" I screamed, my voice cracking with pure terror.
Maria’s eyes widened in sudden fear as she saw the giant man flying toward her. In a panic, her thumb twitched down toward the detonator switch. She was going to press it. She was going to take our baby away from us.
CRACK!
A loud, sharp noise exploded through the warehouse. It wasn’t a normal gun. It was a special precision shot from one of the undercover police snipers hidden in the dark rafters.
The bullet hit the black plastic detonator right out of Maria’s hand. The device shattered into a hundred tiny pieces, sparks flying across the dirty concrete floor. The danger was gone. The trigger was destroyed.
An instant later, Franklin slammed into Maria. He tackled her to the ground with immense force. They crashed onto the floor. Maria shrieked as Franklin pinned her arms behind her back, his heavy breathing sounding like a wild animal. He was so angry his hands were shaking, but he didn’t hurt her. He held her down with all his weight, locking her wrists in tight, plastic zip-ties just as the police team swarmed the floor.
Dozens of bright flashlights lit up the darkness. Officers in dark uniforms rushed forward, taking Maria from Franklin’s grip and dragging her to her feet. She was screaming curses, her coat covered in dirt, her face red and wild as she tried to kick the guards.
I didn’t care about her anymore.
The moment the detonator broke, I scrambled forward on my hands and knees. I tore across the cold concrete, sliding right next to the car seat.
"Lael!" I sobbed, my hands shaking so hard I could barely lift her.
I pulled my sweet baby girl out of the seat and tucked her tightly against my chest. She woke up from the commotion, letting out a small, soft whimper. She blinked her big, dark eyes at me, completely warm and entirely safe. She didn’t have a single scratch on her. She was perfect.
I collapsed onto the floor, holding her so close I could feel her tiny heartbeat against my own. Big, hot tears poured down my face, soaking into her little fleece blanket. The nightmare was finally over. My baby was back in my arms again. I couldn’t let go of her.
Franklin walked over to us. The terrible rage was completely gone from his features, replaced by a soft, trembling sorrow. He dropped to his knees right beside me, his large arms wrapping around both me and Lael. He buried his face in my shoulder, his large frame shaking as he wept silent, heavy tears of pure relief.
We stayed there on the floor for a long time, just breathing each other in, listening to our daughter’s soft breathing while the police led Maria away in handcuffs.
It was a very relieving experience.
As we finally walked out of the warehouse into the cool night air, I saw Flynn standing near a bright red ambulance. He was holding his broken arm, a blanket wrapped around his shoulders.
As the police forced Maria into the back of a flashing cruiser, she looked through the window and glared at her son, her eyes still full of poison. But Flynn didn’t flinch. He didn’t look afraid anymore. He stood up straight, looked his mother dead in the eye, and then slowly turned his back on her. He looked at Franklin and me, giving us a small, sad nod.
The monster was finally locked away. The shadows of the past were gone. We walked toward our car together under the stars, holding our daughter tight, ready to finally go home.