Chapter 20 - The Matriarch’s Shadow
The revelation was a stake through Daniel’s heart.
Eleanor Sterling. His mother, who had officially retreated to a Swiss sanatorium six years ago after the death of Daniel’s father. The woman who had sent handwritten congratulations for his engagement to Evelyn, accompanied by a family heirloom necklace.
It hadn't been a business feud. It was a domestic coup orchestrated by his own flesh and blood.
Daniel stood up, the cold wind howling through the bullet-riddled hangar doors. Marcus approached, holding a satellite phone. “Sir, we intercepted an outgoing transmission from the tunnel. A high-speed vessel just detached from the naval pier. Heading east-northeast into international waters.”
“Can our coastal cutters intercept?” Daniel asked.
“Not in this fog, sir. Not without navy clearance, and Eleanor’s private foundation holds maritime transit rights for this sector. If we engage them without clearance, the coast guard will board *us*.”
Leo walked over to the edge of the open utility hatch. On the rusted metal lip of the ladder leading down into the darkness, something glinted in the harsh overhead mercury light.
Leo knelt down and picked it up.
It was a thin, tarnished silver wristband. Identical to the one Leo wore, except for the inscription etched on the inner curved steel: *Julian Sterling - Born 03:14 AM.*
Leo held it up to Daniel, his eyes wide. “Dad… that’s his name. Julian.”
Daniel took the cold piece of metal, his fingers tracing the engraved letters of his lost son’s name. A child raised in clinical isolation, trained as a weapon to strip away everything Daniel had built, commanded by a grandmother who saw human lives only as chess pieces on a balance sheet.
“Get the medical team to stabilize Evelyn,” Daniel commanded Marcus coldly. “Then prep the jet. We aren't going to the police. We aren't going to the board.”
“Where are we going, Mr. Sterling?”
May you like
Daniel looked down at Leo, then turned his gaze toward the stormy Atlantic horizon visible through the hangar doors.
“To Zurich,” Daniel said. “To end this.”
