Chapter 3 – A Son's Choice
For several endless seconds, no one moved.
The underground garage fell into a terrifying silence.
The only sounds were the strained groan of the overloaded forklift and the slow drip of hydraulic oil onto the concrete floor.
Ethan's eyes never left his mother.
He had always known Margaret Blackwood could be ruthless.
He had watched her bankrupt competitors without mercy.
He had watched her destroy careers with a single phone call.
But this...
This was something else.
This was attempted murder.
"You pointed a gun at my wife," Ethan said quietly.
Margaret lowered the pistol only slightly.
"You don't understand."
"No."
His voice grew colder.
"For the first time in my life... I understand perfectly."
He raised the worn leather folder in his hand.
"I found Father's private safe."
Margaret's confident smile faded.
"The one hidden behind the library fireplace."
Her fingers tightened around the gun.
"Impossible."
"I found everything."
He threw several documents onto the concrete floor.
Confidential bank transfers.
Forged board resolutions.
Secret offshore companies.
Every page carried Margaret's signature.
Daniel stared in disbelief.
"Oh my God..."
Ethan continued walking toward the hanging Rolls-Royce.
"You forged Father's final corporate resolutions."
Another document hit the floor.
"You bribed two directors."
Another.
"You transferred nearly two billion dollars into shell companies."
Another.
"And when Father changed his will..."
He held up the original document.
"...you hid it."
Margaret's face hardened.
"I protected this family."
"You protected yourself."
"I earned that company!"
"You stole it."
The words echoed through the garage.
Above us, another loud crack echoed from the forklift.
One of the front tires burst under the crushing weight.
The Rolls-Royce dropped another few inches.
I screamed.
Daniel immediately threw his shoulder beneath the vehicle's frame, even though he knew he couldn't possibly support its weight.
"Ethan!"
"We have seconds!"
Ethan snapped back to reality.
He rushed toward me and knelt beside the ropes still binding my ankles.
"Emily..."
His hands trembled.
"I'm so sorry."
Tears streamed down my face.
"Our baby..."
"I know."
He pulled a folding knife from Daniel's toolbox and began cutting the ropes.
The thick nylon refused to give way.
Margaret watched without moving.
Then she sighed.
"You've always been weak."
She slowly raised the suppressed pistol again.
"If your father had seen you now..."
Her finger rested on the trigger.
"...he would have been ashamed."
She aimed directly at Ethan.
Before she could fire—
Daniel grabbed a heavy steel wrench from the floor and hurled it with all his strength.
The wrench spun through the air.
It struck Margaret's wrist with a sickening crack.
The pistol flew across the garage.
Bang!
The suppressed shot echoed softly as the bullet buried itself harmlessly into a concrete pillar.
Margaret cried out in pain.
"You idiot!"
She lunged toward the fallen weapon.
So did Ethan.
Both reached it at almost the same time.
Margaret clawed desperately at the grip.
Ethan kicked the pistol across the garage.
It slid beneath a parked truck.
Out of reach.
Margaret slapped him across the face.
"You ungrateful boy!"
"I raised you!"
"I fed you!"
"I built your future!"
Ethan looked directly into her eyes.
"No."
He wiped the blood from his lip.
"My father built my future."
"You tried to steal my child's."
Margaret's expression changed.
For the first time...
She looked frightened.
Not because of the police.
Not because of prison.
Because she realized something she had never imagined.
Her own son had stopped being her son.
He had become her enemy.
Another explosive metallic crack thundered above us.
Daniel looked up.
His face turned white.
"The mast is collapsing!"
The forklift's steel frame twisted violently.
Its front wheels lifted off the ground.
The Rolls-Royce shifted sideways.
If it slipped—
It would crush all three of us.
Ethan cut through the final rope around my ankles.
"Can you move?"
I tried to stand.
A sharp pain tore through my abdomen.
My knees buckled instantly.
Another contraction hit.
Harder than before.
Warm liquid suddenly soaked the concrete beneath me.
Daniel stared.
"Oh no..."
Ethan looked down.
His heart stopped.
Blood.
Mixed with amniotic fluid.
The baby was coming.
Right here.
Right beneath three tons of falling steel.
And somewhere above the garage...
The sound of approaching sirens finally echoed through the night.
May you like
But whether they would arrive in time...
No one knew.
