Part 6: A tragic turn of events!
Part 6: A tragic turn of events!
The rain felt like sharp needles against Sarah’s skin, but the cold sensation inside her chest was far worse. The world around her seemed to freeze—the flashing red and blue police lights, the roar of the idling jet engines, the cries of Chloe and Julian being dragged into squad cars—all of it faded into a muted, terrifying background blur.
"What did you just say?" Sarah whispered, her voice barely audible over the roaring storm.
Arthur Sterling’s eyes were filled with deep sorrow as he held out his trembling hand, offering the phone. "The driver... he rammed into your father’s limousine right as they pulled out of the Grand Regency Hotel garage. Mr. Montgomery was rushed to St. Jude’s Trauma Center. Your mother is with him now."
Without saying another word, Sarah sprinted back to her matte-black SUV. She didn't care about her soaked clothes or her ruined hair. All that mattered was reaching the hospital before it was too late.
"Ms. Montgomery, wait! I'm coming with you!" Arthur yelled, rushing to get into the passenger seat as Sarah slammed the vehicle into gear and tore out of the airfield, leaving burning rubber on the wet pavement.
The fifteen-minute drive to St. Jude's Hospital felt like an eternity. Through every red light and rain-slicked intersection, Sarah kept her eyes glued to the road, her hands gripping the steering wheel so tightly her knuckles turned white.
Dad, please, she prayed silently, tears finally spilling over her lashes and mixing with the rainwater on her cheeks. You survived building an empire from nothing. You survived thirty years of cutthroat corporate battles. Don't leave us now.
When the SUV screeched to a halt under the bright emergency lights of the hospital entrance, Sarah bolted out of the vehicle, ignoring the hospital staff who tried to guide her to the reception desk. She sprinted through the automatic doors, down the sterile white corridors, straight toward the Intensive Care Unit.
At the end of the hallway, sitting alone on a cold plastic bench, was her mother, Eleanor.
Eleanor was holding a blood-stained handkerchief to her face, her shoulders shaking violently as she wept. Standing nearby were two heavy-set police officers, taking notes in small black pads.
"Mom!" Sarah cried out, rushing over and dropping to her knees in front of Eleanor, taking her mother's ice-cold hands into her own. "Mom, how is he? What did the doctors say?"
Eleanor looked up, her red, swollen eyes filled with unbearable pain. "Sarah... oh, my sweet girl... he was trying to protect me. When the truck hit us... your father threw himself over me..."
A doctor wearing blue scrubs emerged from behind the double doors of the surgery bay, pulling off his surgical mask. His face was grave.
"Are you Richard Montgomery's family?" the doctor asked softly.
"I'm his daughter," Sarah said, standing up immediately, her voice trembling but resolute. "Please, doctor. Tell me he's going to be okay."
The doctor let out a heavy sigh, looking down at his clipboard. "The impact was severe. Mr. Montgomery suffered multiple broken ribs, internal bleeding, and severe head trauma. We managed to stabilize his vitals, but... he has fallen into a deep coma. The next forty-eight hours will be critical."
Sarah felt her knees buckle, but Arthur stepped in just in time, supporting her arm.
"Can I see him?" Sarah choked out.
"Only for a few minutes," the doctor replied gently. "Only one person at a time."
Sarah turned to her mother, kissing her forehead. "Rest here, Mom. I'll be right back."
Inside the dimly lit ICU room, the rhythmic beep... beep... beep... of the heart monitor was the only sound in the suffocating quiet. Richard Montgomery—the iron-willed titan who had built a multi-billion-dollar empire—lay pale and fragile under a maze of tubes and wires.
Sarah walked slowly to the side of the bed, picking up her father’s large, calloused hand.
"Dad," she whispered, her voice breaking as she pressed his cold hand against her cheek. "I caught them. I saved the deeds. Julian and Chloe are in handcuffs. You can rest now... but you have to fight, Dad. Mom and I need you."
As she spoke, she noticed something odd sticking out from underneath her father’s folded hand.
It was a small, torn piece of black leather—a fragment torn directly from the jacket of the driver who had rammed his vehicle. Clutched tightly inside her father’s stiff fingers, under the leather scrap, was a tiny metallic lapel pin.
Sarah gently pried the pin from her father's hand and held it up to the light.
It was a silver crest shaped like a rising phoenix, wrapped around a stylized serpent.
Sarah’s breath hitched in her throat. Her blood ran cold.
This wasn't Julian’s symbol. This didn't belong to Mark Vance, or Chloe, or any low-level street thug.
This crest belonged to Vanguard Holdings—the dark, shadow syndicate led by Victor Vance... Mark Vance's estranged, multi-billionaire uncle, a ruthless oligarch who had been trying to forcibly acquire the Montgomery international ports for over a decade.
Suddenly, Sarah's phone buzzed in her pocket. It was an unknown, encrypted number.
She stepped out into the hallway, her pulse pounding in her ears, and answered it.
"Hello?" Sarah said, her voice dropping into a dangerous, icy register.
A deep, smooth male voice echoed through the line, accompanied by the clinking of an ice cube in a crystal whiskey glass.
"Good evening, Ms. Montgomery," the voice purred, smooth as silk and cold as death. "Or should I say... Acting Chairman of Montgomery Global?"
Sarah’s grip tightened on the phone. "Victor Vance."
"Fascinating, isn't it?" Victor chuckled softly over the line. "My foolish nephew Mark was so easily manipulated. My brother's boy thought he was acting out of greed, while your stepbrother Julian thought he was acting out of revenge. But both of those idiots were merely setting the stage for me."
"You tried to murder my father!" Sarah hissed, stepping away from her mother so Eleanor wouldn't hear.
"Your father was an obstacle, Sarah. A stubborn old man who refused to sell me what I wanted," Victor replied calmly. "And now, he's out of the picture. By sunrise tomorrow, I will execute a hostile takeover of Montgomery Global using the shares I secretly purchased from your stepbrother six months ago."
"I have the original deeds, Victor," Sarah countered through gritted teeth. "Your takeover is illegal. You will go to prison for the rest of your life!"
Victor laughed—a dark, chilling sound that sent shivers down Sarah's spine.
"Check your news app, Sarah," Victor whispered. "Before you make threats you can't back up."
Sarah rapidly pulled the phone from her ear, opening the national business news network on her screen.
The breaking headline flashed in bold red letters across the top of the page:
[BREAKING NEWS: MONTGOMERY GLOBAL BOARD OF DIRECTORS OUSTS RICHARD MONTGOMERY IN EMERGENCY MIDNIGHT VOTE; VICTOR VANCE NAMED INTERIM CEO]
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Sarah stared at the screen in utter shock. Her father wasn't even out of surgery, and the board had already turned their backs on him!
"You see, Sarah?" Victor’s voice came back through the speaker, mocking and triumphant. "You may have won the battle on the runway tonight... but the war for your family's empire was already lost before you even stepped into that ballroom."
