My million-dollar steak shattered as a scarred gunman cocked his pistol right behind my back!

Part 6

Justice rains from above.

The blinding white beam of a military-grade searchlight pinned us to the wet asphalt, turning the midnight dark into harsh daytime.

"Federal agents! Drop your weapons and step away from the civilians!" a voice thundered from the helicopter's loudspeaker, drowned out by the deafening chop-chop-chop of rotor blades directly overhead.

Marcus panicked. "Shoot him!" he screamed to his men.

Before any mercenary could pull a trigger, heavy gunfire erupted from the treeline surrounding the highway. Tactical lasers, sharp green dots, painted every single one of Victoria’s men. Tactical assault teams in unmarked black gear burst out from the woods with terrifying speed.

Within seconds, the mercenaries were swept off their feet, disarmed, and slammed into the mud. Marcus tried to raise his shotgun toward the sky, but a sniper round shattered the weapon in his hands, sending him howling to the ground, clutching a bloody wrist.

"Lily!" I bellowed, breaking free from the disoriented guards and tackling the man holding my niece. I yanked her out of his grip, shielding her small body as the tactical team neutralized the remaining threats.

Victoria dropped her black umbrella, her heels slipping in the mud as she scrambled back toward her sedan. She lunged for the door handle, but a tall, imposing figure stepped out from the shadows of the lead tactical SUV, blocking her path.

He wore a dark tactical vest, his face hardened with absolute authority. Across his left cheek ran a faint, faded scar.

My heart jumped into my throat. The scarred man from the restaurant.

"Julian!" he called out over the roar of the helicopter, stepping toward me with his hands down and open. "Stay down! We've got the perimeter secured!"

"You..." I growled, pulling Lily behind me. "You tried to poison me at the restaurant!"

The scarred man shook his head, pulling a badge from his belt and flashing a glowing silver crest.

"I'm Special Agent Vance—Interpol, Covert Operations," he said, his voice firm and steady. "And I didn't poison your food, Julian. I was trying to switch your plate with a dummy. I've been tracking Victoria's cartel network for three years. I'm the one who rescued your sister."

My breath caught. "Eleanor... She's alive?"

"She's in protective custody in a safehouse ten miles from here," Agent Vance confirmed, turning his cold gaze toward Victoria, who was now pinned against her luxury car by two federal officers, her designer coat soaked in filth. "We needed Victoria to step out into the open and commit a direct act of attempted murder on camera so we could seize her global assets and dismantle her entire organization."

Victoria's face turned pale as paper. The cool, calculated mastermind was gone, replaced by a frantic, cornered animal.

"Julian, please!" she shrieked as steel handcuffs clinked around her wrists, locking her hands behind her back. "They're lying to you! I was forced into this! I loved you!"

I walked slowly over to her, wiping the cold rain from my eyes. I reached out and gently unclasped the Sapphire Serpent necklace from her neck, watching the precious blue stone catch the strobe lights of the police cruisers now flooding the highway.

"You never loved me, Victoria," I said, my voice ice cold as I stuffed the necklace into my pocket. "You loved my empire. And starting tonight, you don't even have a name."

She screamed curses as agents forced her into the back of a armored transport vehicle, shutting the heavy doors on her forever.

Agent Vance walked over, kneeling down to Lily's level with a soft, rare smile breaking across his scarred face. "You did good, kiddo. Your mom is waiting for you."

Lily looked up at me, her hazel eyes shining with tears, but for the first time, they were tears of relief. She wrapped her tiny arms around my neck one last time.