All Chapters of His Billion-Dollar Secret: Chapter 51
- Chapter 60
88 chapters
Chapter 51
"Something's wrong."Leonard stared at his monitors in the mobile command center they'd set up near the old genetics laboratory. Fifty-six hours had passed. Two hours until Victoria's predicted attack time."What is it?" Jayce asked over comms. He was inside the laboratory with Daniel and April, setting up defensive positions."I'm detecting electronic signals coming from inside the building. Signals that shouldn't be there. We swept this place three times. It was clean.""Maybe Victoria's people planted something while we were preparing?" Daniel suggested."No. The signals are old. Been there for years. I'm only detecting them now because I adjusted our scanners." Leonard's voice grew more concerned. "Boss, these readings... they're consistent with explosives. Lots of them. The entire building is wired to blow.""EVERYONE OUT! NOW!" Jayce shouted.They ran for the exits just as Leonard's scanner started beeping rapidly."THIRTY SECONDS UNTIL DETONATION!"Jayce, Daniel, and April spri
Chapter 52
"I'm going. That's final."Jayce grabbed a backpack and started loading it with the research files—the real ones, hidden in a vault only he could access."Boss, please." Leonard had been moved to a chair, his wound temporarily stabilized. "Think about what you're doing. Agent Santos died trying to protect that research. Don't make her death meaningless.""Santos died protecting us. Protecting Ella. And I'm going to honor that by getting Ella back alive." Jayce continued packing. "Victoria will kill her if I don't show up.""Victoria will kill you both even if you do!" Daniel slammed his fist on the table. "Can't you see? This is exactly what she wants! You, the research, everything in one place!""Then what's your plan? Let Ella die while we come up with something clever?""My plan is we track Victoria. Find where she's holding Ella. Storm the place with everything we have." Daniel pulled up a laptop. "Give me one hour. Just one hour to locate her.""We don't have an hour!" Jayce chec
Chapter 53
"Ella?! How did you—""Escaped. About twenty minutes ago. Killed three guards. Stole a car. Followed the smoke to here." Ella pulled out a keycard. "Got this off Victoria's lieutenant. Full building access. Now help me up. We're getting to that roof."She climbed back through the ceiling opening. One by one, they followed. The elevator shaft was dark and dangerous, but Ella led them up maintenance ladders to the next floor."How did you know where we'd be?" Jayce asked as they climbed."I didn't. I was heading for the roof myself when I heard the elevator stop. Lucky guess." Ella reached a door and swiped the keycard. It opened. "This way. Roof access is two more floors up."They emerged into a corridor filled with smoke. Sprinklers were going off. Alarms still blaring."Where was Victoria holding you?" April asked."Old warehouse by the docks. About thirty guys guarding me. Had me in a concrete room with one door." Ella moved quickly despite her injuries. "They underestimated how man
Chapter 54
"This is the place."Frost pulled the car up to a mansion on the outskirts of Metro City. Gated. Guarded. Cameras everywhere. The kind of place that screamed "extremely wealthy and slightly paranoid.""Looks expensive," Leonard observed from the back seat. He was medicated and bandaged but insisted on coming. "And defensible. Good security positioning. Multiple exits. If this is a trap, they've planned it well.""Everything's a trap until proven otherwise," Jayce checked his concealed weapon. "Everyone remember the plan?""Stay alert. Trust nothing. First sign of trouble, we shoot our way out." Daniel was in the driver's seat of the second car they'd brought. "Though I still think this is suicide.""Noted. But we're going anyway." Jayce looked at Master Chen in the back. The old master had refused to stay behind despite his critical condition. "Master Chen, if things go bad, you get out first. Don't argue. Just go.""I've fought in worse conditions than this, young man. Stop treating
Chapter 55
Ella finished her sentence, but the car had gone silent. Everyone lost in their own thoughts about Marcus's warning.They drove back to the safe house through winding forest roads. Halfway there, Frost's phone rang."It's the private doctor," she said, answering. "Yes? When? How bad?" Her face went pale. "We'll be there in ten minutes."She hung up and pressed the accelerator. "Master Chen crashed. The doctor got him stabilized but says the next few hours are critical. If his condition doesn't improve, he'll need a real hospital.""Which we can't take him to," Leonard said grimly. "Victoria will find us the moment we show up with a gunshot victim.""Then we better hope he pulls through on his own," Daniel muttered.They arrived to find the cabin in chaos. The doctor—a gruff man in his fifties with military bearing—was shouting orders at April."More bandages! And I need that IV bag replaced! Move!""I'm moving as fast as I can, Dr. Harris!" April snapped back."Who's Dr. Harris?" Jayc
Chapter 56
"You have the right to remain silent."The detective read Jayce his rights in a small interrogation room at Metro City Police Department. Jayce had been separated from his team. He didn't know where they were or if they were okay."I didn't kill that woman," Jayce said calmly. "I was set up.""Save it for your lawyer." The detective tossed photos onto the table. Crime scene photos. Jessica Chen's body. The motel room. And one photo that made Jayce's heart stop.A picture of Jayce standing over Jessica's body. Holding a gun."That's fake. Photoshopped.""Our forensics team says otherwise. That photo was taken by motel security camera thirty minutes before we arrived. Shows you entering the room. Gun in hand. Then leaving three minutes later." The detective—a hard-faced woman in her forties—leaned forward. "You're looking at murder one. Life in prison without parole.""Check the timestamp. Check the metadata. That photo is manufactured.""Already did. Everything checks out. You were the
Chapter 57
"You're supposed to be dead."They were back at the safe house. Dr. Sarah Chen sat calmly at the kitchen table while April treated Jason's gunshot wound. The young man glared at his mother with pure hatred."I've been dead for twenty years. In hiding. Waiting for the right time to return." Sarah sipped tea like she hadn't just shot her own son. "Master Chen thought I died in a car accident. So did everyone else. But I survived. Went underground. Started investigating The Collector from the shadows.""Why would you fake your death?" Jayce asked."Because Evelyn Walker had ordered my assassination. I was getting too close to discovering the truth about The Collector's origins. About who really founded the organization." Sarah pulled out old documents. "So I faked my death and let everyone believe I was gone. Including my husband and children.""You abandoned us," Jason spat. "Left us to believe you were dead. Do you know what that did to Jessica? To me? To Father?""I did what I had to
Chapter 58
Lily finished her sentence, watching Jayce's face carefully. "My father—our father—made three serums. Version One healed. Version Two created flawed immortals like Daniel. This?" She held up the syringe. "This is Version Three. Perfect immortality. No side effects. No personality changes. Just eternal life.""If that's real, why haven't you used it? Why haven't the Walkers?" Jayce stared at the glowing blue liquid."Because there's only one dose. And once it's used, the formula dies with the person who takes it. It's encoded in their DNA in a way that can't be extracted or replicated. Richard made sure of that." Lily put the syringe away carefully. "Margaret wants this more than anything. Give it to her, she'll call off Victoria. Everyone lives.""Except whoever takes that serum becomes immortal. Unkillable. Untouchable. You want me to make Margaret Walker a god?""I want you to save the people you love. Sometimes the only way to win is to lose on your own terms." Lily stood. "You hav
Chapter 59
"EVERYBODY DOWN!"The front door exploded inward. Flash grenades filled the room with blinding light and deafening sound. Jayce pulled the clone Ella to the ground, covering her body with his despite knowing she wasn't real.Victoria's forces flooded in. Masked. Armed. Moving with military precision."RETURN FIRE!" Frost shouted, shooting from behind an overturned table.The safe house turned into a war zone. Bullets tore through walls. Furniture exploded into splinters. Blood and smoke filled the air."WE NEED TO EVACUATE!" Daniel dragged Master Chen—the clone—toward the back door. "We can't hold this position!""The back door's blocked!" Jason fired his weapon at approaching attackers. "They've surrounded us!""Then we go up!" Leonard pointed to a ceiling hatch. "Attic! Roof! There's a fire escape on the north side!"They fought their way toward the hallway. April laid down covering fire while Leonard climbed up and opened the hatch."GO! GO! GO!"One by one, they climbed up. Sarah
Chapter 60
"We need to split up. Again."They were back in the van, driving through streets that were starting to show signs of panic. News vans racing toward the subway station. Police cars everywhere. Sirens creating a constant wail."Split up how?" Daniel asked. "We barely have six people left! Sarah, Jason, April, Leonard, you, and me! That's not an army!""Then we fight like a scalpel, not a hammer. Precise strikes." Jayce was already planning. "Leonard, April—you go to Walker Global headquarters. Start moving the servers. Get them off-site before Victoria blows the building. Daniel, Jason—you go to the subway station. Help evacuate. Try to contain the spread. I go to the nursing home. Face Victoria. End this.""Alone?" Sarah shook her head. "That's suicide.""Then come with me. You know the layout. You know where they'd keep the prisoners." Jayce looked at her. "Prove you're really on our side. Help me rescue the real Ella and Master Chen.""And what about the bioweapon?" April demanded. "