All Chapters of RISE OF THE SCORNFUL CRYPTO LORD: Chapter 81
- Chapter 90
121 chapters
81: RACE AGAINST TIME
Liam's POVThe video played on, but my ears were deaf to its sound. Michael was coming for my adoptive father, the very man who took me in when the world turned its back on me. He had shown me how to navigate a life that seemed indifferent to suffering and survival.Before the last frame faded, I was on my feet, bolting down the stairs and snatching my keys. Claire's voice echoed after me, muffled and distant, as if I were submerged underwater."Liam, please wait!" she shouted.I couldn’t afford to wait — not even a moment. Each tick of the clock granted Michael a greater opportunity to inflict pain, to snuff out the life of the one person who had meant something before this chaos erupted.Vincent intercepted me at the door. "Where do you think you're going?""Michael's after my father. I have to reach him first.""You need backup. Take Torres, bring anyone!""No time!" I brushed past him. "Stay here and protect everyone else."Elijah came rushing in with car keys at the ready. "I’m
82: THE HOSTAGES SITUATION
Liam's POVThe three people tied to chairs next to a man whose face has been covered with a cloth — I assumed he is my father and also faces I hadn't expected to see ever again. Faces from a life I'd tried to leave behind when I became part of everything.Curry James sat in the chair closest to my father. The investigative journalist who'd been digging into Mr. Edwards before Edwards turned up dead. Curry had questions about that death. Questions I'd never answered. Now he was here with duct tape over his mouth staring at me with eyes that said he finally understood what kind of world I lived in.Next to Curry was Laura Winifred. My best friend from college. The only person who'd stayed in touch after I dropped out. We'd grab coffee maybe twice a year without letting Claire know. Talk about nothing important. She'd tell me about her marketing job. I'd make up stories about what I was doing. Laura had no idea about the Rossi family. No idea about any of this. She was just a normal pers
83: SACRIFICE AND STRATEGY
Liam's POVThe men let me up after maybe a minute of me lying there staring at Laura's body. My legs felt weak when I stood but I forced myself to stay upright. My chest was so tight I could barely breathe through the pressure building there. Laura was dead because Michael had killed her to prove a point about how serious he was when it came to killing the others."Do we have an understanding now?" Michael asked.I looked at my father then at Curry then at Sarah. All three of them were staring at me with terror in their eyes because they knew what came next. All three of them knew they were next if I didn't give Michael what he wanted right now."Yes," I said. My voice sounded hollow like it was coming from somewhere far away. "I'll sign whatever you want. Just don't hurt them.""Good. Then go home and get the documents ready. I'll send you a list of everything I need within the hour." Michael gestured toward the stairs with his free hand. "You have until dawn to finish. If everything
84: FINAL CONFRONTATION
Liam's POVThe windows exploded inward as the breach teams came through from both sides of the building at the same time. Glass rained down while men in tactical gear poured into the room with weapons raised and shouting commands. Michael's mercenaries responded immediately by opening fire from their positions in the shadows where they'd been waiting.The noise was deafening because gunfire echoed off metal and concrete in the enclosed space. I dove toward my father's chair to try to get him out of the line of fire but someone tackled me from the side before I could reach him. One of Michael's men. We hit the floor hard enough to knock the wind out of me.I rolled away then came up swinging because there was no time to think about technique or strategy. Just survival instinct taking over. My fist connected with his jaw but he barely flinched before coming at me again with a knife in his hand that hadn't been there a second ago.The blade sliced across my shoulder as I twisted away. No
85: MURDERER
Liam's POVI stood there with my fist raised looking at Michael's bloody face while trying to decide what kind of person I wanted to be. The old me would have pulled him up then handed him to Torres to deal with properly. Would have let the system handle it even though the system was broken. Would have chosen mercy because that's what separated me from people like him.But the old me hadn't watched Laura die. Hadn't seen my father tied to a chair bleeding. Hadn't spent two years being hunted by someone who wanted to destroy everything I cared about."You're not going to do it," Michael said through split lips while blood ran down his chin. "You're too weak to make that choice.""Maybe," I said."You'll hand me over to the police thinking justice will be served somehow." He coughed then spit blood onto the floor between us. "But I have lawyers. I have money. I have connections you don't know about. I'll be out in six months. Less if Mr. Ackerman helps me.""Then I'll be waiting when yo
86: LEGAL AFTERMATH
Liam's POVThe police arrived three minutes after Michael stopped breathing and found me still kneeling next to Curry's body with blood covering my hands and clothes. They came through the building with weapons drawn shouting commands that echoed off the concrete walls just like the gunfire had earlier. I didn't move when they told me to put my hands up because I was still staring at Curry trying to understand what had just happened.Torres stepped between me and the officers before they could get too aggressive about my lack of response to their orders. "He's in shock. Give him a second to process.""Everyone on the ground now," one of the officers yelled anyway.Ashley helped me stand then guided me away from Curry's body while Torres explained the situation to the police. There were bodies scattered throughout the building from the firefight. Michael's mercenaries mostly. A few of our people. Too many dead for one night.They separated us for questioning which meant I sat in the ba
87: THE VIDEO EVIDENCE
Liam's POVPatterson and Chloe reviewed the video footage in a private room at the detention center while I sat across from them watching their faces for any sign of hope or disaster. They'd been silent for the past ten minutes rewinding and pausing and taking notes on things I couldn't see from my angle."This is bad," Patterson finally said while setting the tablet down on the table between us. "The footage shows you strangling Michael for approximately thirty five seconds after he dropped the gun on the stairs. There's no audio but the visual is clear enough that any jury will see this as excessive force.""He'd just killed Curry," I said. "Was going to kill the others if I let him get back up.""That's not what the video shows." Chloe turned the tablet around so I could see the screen. "What it shows is Michael dropping a firearm then continuing to choke him while he's clearly incapacitated and unable to fight back."I watched myself on the screen with my hands around Michael's th
88: ELIJAH'S PAST
Liam's POVI demanded to see Elijah the same day Martinez revealed his criminal record to the court but the detention center wouldn't allow unscheduled visits so I had to wait until the next morning when Patterson arranged it. Elijah walked into the visitation room looking like he'd aged ten years overnight with dark circles under his eyes that matched the ones I saw in the mirror every morning."I'm sorry," he said before sitting down across from me. "I should have told you about my past before any of this started but I didn't think it would matter since that was so long ago.""Tell me what happened," I said while keeping my voice level even though I wanted to shout. "Tell me the whole story so I know what we're dealing with here."Elijah sat down then stared at his hands for a long moment before speaking. "You knew all that happened with my parents, Liam. I found out that my father had been working on something he wouldn't talk about. Something that made him nervous for weeks before
89: Liam's Findings
Liam's POVThe courtroom filled up fast in the morning. The verdict was supposed to be read with every seat taken by reporters or family members or people who just wanted to witness the outcome.I sat at the defense table wearing a suit Patterson had brought because showing up in an orange jumpsuit would send the wrong message to the jury.Claire was in the front row behind me. Vincent next to her. Ashley, Torres, and Elijah. Everyone who mattered was there to see how this ended.The jury filed in, looking exhausted from seven days of deliberation which Patterson said could mean they'd been arguing about the evidence until they finally reached consensus.I tried to read their faces for any hint of what they'd decided but they all looked down at the floor or straight ahead without making eye contact with anyone."Has the jury reached a verdict?" the judge asked.The foreman stood up holding a piece of paper. "We have, Your Honor.""What say you?"I stopped breathing while waiting for t
90: CONFRONTATION
Liam's POVI kept going through the files while sitting on my father's bedroom floor because there had to be more information buried in these pages about Charles's operation.The evidence I'd found so far was damning enough to destroy him but I needed to understand the full scope before making any moves. I needed to know everyone who was involved so I could protect myself from blowback.That's when I saw it.A memo dated three years ago with my father's name at the bottom next to his signature.The memo detailed a transfer of funds from Harrington Tech to one of Charles's shell companies using accounting methods designed to hide the transaction from auditors.My father had signed off on it. He had approved the transfer and helped funnel money out of Claire's company.My hands went numb while I stared at his signature.This had to be a mistake…Some kind of forgery…My father was a humble man. A person who'd raised me to value honesty above everything else. He wouldn't participate in c