Phase 2: ESCALATION
Chapter 21
The world did not end with an explosion or a scream. It ended with the sound of a briefcase skittering across wet concrete and the frantic, rhythmic thunder of helicopter rotors tearing the sky apart overhead.
The bag hit the ground hard, spinning, its clasps snapping open on impact.
Mikhail’s attention snapped toward it instantly. In that fraction of a second, greed overpowered rage. The briefcase was not just evidence. It was validation. It was proof that he had been right to survive, right to hate, right to burn everything in pursuit of what his father had denied him.
His grip on my father’s collar loosened.
That was all the opening Adrian needed.
He moved without hesitation, without strategy, without fear. A coiled spring finally released. He did n
