Chapter 11 - THE BREAKING POINT
The blue light in the control room began to shift, flashing a deep, urgent amber as warning sirens began to sound through the upper floors of Sterling Tower.
On the giant monitors, millions of lines of complex code were disappearing, replaced by rows of simple, repeating text: PROJECT ELYSIUM TERMINATED.
Sienna turned away from the console. Her face was no longer that of a calm corporate heiress. Her hair was loose, her green eyes wide with a frantic, unadulterated rage.
She reached into the drawer of the glass desk and pulled out a small, pearl-handled automatic pistol.
"You ruined everything," she spat, her voice trembling with hatred as she aimed the weapon directly at Ethan's chest. "Thirty years of work. My family's legacy. Everything!"
"Your family's legacy was built on a lie, Sienna," Ethan said, standing perfectly still, looking down the barrel of the gun. "Just like our engagement."
"I could have loved you!" Sienna yelled over the rising roar of the warning sirens. "You were brilliant! We could have ruled this city together! But you chose her—a nobody from Maine! A pathetic archivist who doesn't even understand the world we live in!"
"She knows what love is," Ethan said quietly. "You only know control."
Sienna's finger tightened on the trigger.
BANG.
The gunshot rang out, deafening in the enclosed glass room.
Ethan braced for the impact of the bullet, but the pain didn't come.
Instead, Dr. Julian Weber staggered backward, clutching his shoulder. Blood was seeping through his grey suit jacket.
Behind Weber, standing at the entrance of the control room, was the lead Sterling tactical officer from the hotel—the man Ethan had spared in the stairwell. He held his service weapon raised, his face grim.
"Security Protocol 4," the officer said, his voice flat, echoing over the sirens. "In the event of an unauthorized system destruction, all Sterling executives are to be taken into federal custody. Put the weapon down, Ms. Sterling."
Sienna looked at the guard, then at Weber, who had collapsed onto his knees, gasping for air.
"You..." Sienna whispered, looking at Ethan. "You set this up too."
"I didn't," Ethan said. "Your own security protocols did. You designed a system that turns on its masters the second they lose power."
Sienna looked at the gun in her hand, then at the amber monitors flashing DELETION COMPLETE.
May you like
With a choked sob of rage and defeat, she let the pearl-handled pistol drop to the floor. It clattered against the resin tiles, coming to rest at Ethan's feet.
Down below, on the streets surrounding Sterling Tower, the red and blue flashing lights of federal law enforcement vehicles were already cutting through the fog.
