The polished white marble floor of the penthouse was stained with deep red blood. I lay on my side, my body aching from the heavy blow that had sent me crashing to the ground. My head throbbed with a dull, sickening pain, but I forced my eyes to stay open. Above me stood Richard, my husband of three years, wearing a tailored dark suit, his face contorted in an ugly grin.
Richard: Look at you, Chloe. You really thought you could fight us in court?
Chloe: You... you forged my father's signature on the trust fund...
Richard: You own nothing now!
Beside him, my stepmother, Vanessa, stood in a sleek emerald green gown. She smoothed the front of her dress, taking a slow sip from her champagne flute while looking down at me with cold, lifeless eyes.
Vanessa: Pathetic. Did you truly believe your father would leave a single cent of the estate to a daughter who disobeyed him?
Chloe: My father loved me... He built Sterling Global for my future, not for a gold-digger and her lapdog...
Richard: Watch your mouth! Your father is dead, and the board voted me in as interim CEO twenty minutes ago.
Vanessa: Let her bark, Richard. A beggar on the floor has no leverage in a room full of billionaires.
I didn't answer them. My right arm felt heavy, bruised from the fall, but my fingers slowly twitched. Inches away from my face, lying near the edge of the velvet sofa leg, was my smartphone. The screen was cracked, but the inner digital display was still glowing faintly.
Richard: What are you reaching for? You think calling ninety-one-one is going to save your stocks?
Vanessa: Let her try. The precinct commander is on our payroll, darling.
My trembling, blood-stained fingers finally dragged the glass screen closer. I didn't open the phone app. I didn't dial the police. My thumb pressed three precise points on a custom security interface widget on the home screen. A tiny robotic confirmation tone chimed softly from the speaker.
Phone Voice: Override initiated. Check your accounts.
Vanessa’s phone chimed in her clutch purse. A second later, Richard’s phone vibrated violently against his hip. They both pulled out their screens, expecting a victory notification from the family bank. But as their eyes scanned the glowing numbers, the smug smiles vanished from their faces, replaced by an absolute, suffocating terror that froze them where they stood.