Chapter 10: The Billionaire’s Ultimatum
Static hissed through the small speaker, followed by the sound of a throat clearing.
“Julian Vance,” a polished, arrogant voice echoed through the red-lit elevator.
Julian’s jaw clenched. “Richard Sterling. I see you finally found the courage to speak to me directly instead of hiding behind your lawyers.”
“I don’t hide, Mr. Vance. I manage,” Richard replied smoothly, sounding entirely unbothered by the fact that a war was happening inside a Manhattan skyscraper. “You made a very bold move tonight. Freezing my offshore accounts. Forcing my daughter to embarrass herself on the internet. It was a good opening play.”
“It wasn’t an opening play, Richard,” Julian countered, his voice dripping with venom. “It was an eviction notice. Your empire is over.”
Richard let out a dry, condescending laugh. “You street thugs are all the same. You think because you own a few docks and some underground casinos, you understand power. I am Wall Street, Julian. I am the system. You cannot beat the system.”
“Your system currently has a massive hole in its roof, and your mercenaries are bleeding out on my imported rugs,” Julian mocked.
“A temporary setback,” Richard dismissed casually. “I have fifty more men surrounding the ground floor lobby. You are trapped in a steel box on the twentieth floor. Your lieutenant, Marcus, is currently pinned down in the penthouse. You have nowhere to go.”
Maya watched Julian. For the first time, she saw a flicker of genuine tension in his eyes when Richard mentioned Marcus.
“Here is my offer,” Richard announced, his tone shifting into a hard, uncompromising business negotiation. “Send the elevator down to the lobby. Hand over the girl. You give me the hacker who locked my accounts, and you walk away. I let you keep your miserable underground kingdom, and we forget this ever happened.”
Julian let out a dark, menacing chuckle. “You think she is currency, Richard? You think you can just trade for her?”
“She is a liability!” Richard snapped, his temper finally flaring. “She is a nobody from Brooklyn who builds cheap trinkets! Hand her over, Vance!”
Maya felt a sudden, white-hot surge of pure fury.
Cheap trinkets. A nobody.
She pushed herself off the floor. She didn’t look at Julian. She walked directly up to the intercom speaker, her hands balled into tight fists.
“She has a name, Richard,” Maya said loudly.
The intercom went dead silent.
“Is this the little thief?” Richard sneered after a moment.
“My name is Maya Ademi,” she declared, her voice ringing with absolute authority. “And I am the woman who designed the foundation of your daughter’s fake empire.”
Julian lowered his gun slightly, watching her with a look of pure, unadulterated awe.
“You listen to me, you spoiled, arrogant coward,” Maya continued, leaning into the microphone. “You built your entire legacy by stealing from people who didn’t have the money to fight you. You stole my art. You tried to steal my dignity. And now, you’re trying to steal my life.”
“You have no idea who you are talking to, little girl,” Richard hissed.
“I know exactly who I’m talking to,” Maya fired back, her heart pounding furiously. “I’m talking to a man who is so terrified of a ‘nobody from Brooklyn’ that he had to hire an army just to face me. Julian isn’t going to hand me over, Richard. Because unlike you, he actually understands what loyalty is.”
“Then you will both die in that building,” Richard said coldly.
“No,” Maya whispered, her eyes locking onto Julian’s. “We’re coming down. And we’re bringing your empire to the ground.”
The intercom clicked off.
Julian stared at her in the blood-red light. He reached out, gently wrapping his hand around the back of her neck, pulling her forehead against his.
“Remind me,” Julian whispered, his breath warm against her skin, “to never get on your bad side.”
If a billionaire threatened your life, would you have hidden in the corner, or would you have stepped up to the microphone and declared war?
