Chapter 8 - Final Confrontation
"Looking for someone, Moretti?" Marcus’s voice echoed down the dark hallway, thick with malice.
Before Andrew could fully step out of the doorway, Marcus raised the suppressed pistol and fired. A muffled thump fractured the silence as a bullet slammed into the wooden doorframe inches from Andrew’s head, sending a spray of splinters flying into the nursery.
"Get down, Clara!" Andrew shouted, shoving her back toward the children's beds.
Andrew lunged out into the hallway, using the heavy oak paneling of the wall for cover. He knew the estate layout blindfolded; every alcove, every blind spot, every structural beam. But Marcus was armed and desperate.
"You think you’re untouchable because you have money!" Marcus yelled, stepping closer, his footsteps echoing ominously across the polished floorboards. "You think you can just lock me away after I built this empire for you? I bled for Moretti Global!"
"You stole from it, Marcus!" Andrew shouted back, using his voice to pinpoint the security chief's exact location in the dim shadows near the stairs. "You and Vanessa are nothing common criminals hiding behind corporate letterheads!"
Marcus stepped into a patch of moonlight near the grand staircase, raising his pistol with both hands, aiming directly at the doorway of the nursery where Clara and the boys were hidden.
"Then let's see how well your money protects your family when I burn this mausoleum to the ground—just like the first time," Marcus snarled, his finger tightening on the trigger.
Clack.
Before Marcus could fire, a heavy bronze statue came flying out of the dark alcove to his left, hurled with pinpoint accuracy by Clara, who had slipped out through the service door behind him. The heavy metal object struck Marcus squarely across the forearm, knocking the pistol from his grip. The weapon clattered loudly against the marble steps, sliding down into the foyer below.
Marcus roared in fury, spinning around to grab Clara by the throat.
"Get away from her!" Andrew roared.
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With a final, desperate surge of adrenaline, Andrew launched himself across the hallway, tackling Marcus full-force around the waist. The two men collided heavily against the carved mahogany banister of the grand staircase.
The aged wood groaned under the sudden impact. With a sharp crack, the banister splintered, and both men tumbled over the edge, crashing down toward the marble foyer below.
