Chapter 8
Chapter 8
Elias didn’t chase his brother.
He bolted from the master suite, sprinting down the narrow corridors of the yacht.
He didn't care that Clara had betrayed him. He didn't care that her love was a lie. He refused to let someone die on his watch, especially not the woman wearing his wedding ring.
Alarms blared across the ship as automated bulkheads began slamming shut, sealing off sections of the vessel.
Elias shot the control panel of a heavy steel door just before it closed, sliding under it with only inches to spare.
"Clara!" Elias roared, kicking open cabin doors one by one.
On the ship's PA system, Julian’s voice echoed merrily. "Two minutes, Elias. She's in the lower hull. But watch your step."
Elias vaulted down a spiral staircase into the engineering deck.
The roar of the engines was deafening, but over it, he could hear the frantic splashing of water.
He rounded a corner and saw the glass room.
The water was already up to Clara's neck. She was desperately clawing at the reinforced glass, her eyes wide with genuine terror.
Elias ran to the glass, slamming his fists against it. It didn't even crack.
He raised his gun and fired point-blank into the pane. The bullets ricocheted harmlessly off the ballistic glass.
Clara screamed as the water reached her chin, her face pressing against the top of the enclosure.
Elias looked around frantically. There was a heavy, steel maintenance wrench resting on a workbench. He grabbed it, stepping back.
With a primal yell, Elias swung the wrench with everything he had, striking the bottom corner of the glass where the pressure was highest.
A spiderweb crack appeared.
He hit it again. Harder.
The glass shattered outward in an explosive wave.
Thousands of gallons of water blasted Elias backward, slamming him against the steel bulkhead.
Clara tumbled out with the water, coughing violently and gasping for air as she scrambled over the broken glass.
Elias groaned, his vision blurring as he forced himself up.
He looked at Clara, shivering and soaked on the floor.
"Why?" Elias coughed, gripping his ribs.
Clara looked up at him, tears streaming down her face.
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"Because," she whispered, her voice trembling. "They have my real daughter."
Elias froze as the massive steel door to the engineering deck slowly hissed open, revealing a figure stepping out of the shadows.
