Chapter 15
The freezing Chicago wind bit fiercely as the elevator doors opened onto the roof. A sleek, unmarked black helicopter sat idling on the helipad, its rotors whipping the heavy snow into a blinding frenzy. Two heavily armed security contractors stood by the open side door, waving them forward.
Michael shielded Renee’s face from the biting chill as they ran across the tarmac. He strapped her securely into a rear seat, wrapping a heavy tactical blanket around her trembling shoulders. Marcus and David climbed in behind him. The doors slid shut, instantly cutting off the roar of the wind.
"We are clear," the pilot announced over the headset. The helicopter lifted smoothly into the stormy night sky, leaving the glittering Chicago skyline and the towering DeLuca empire far below.
Inside the dimly lit cabin, the adrenaline slowly began to recede, replaced by a profound, exhaustion-laced reality. Renee, exhausted by the terror of the night, had already fallen back asleep, her head resting against Michael’s arm.
"Mr. DeLuca," Marcus said, his deep voice cautious over the comms. "Vance escaped. He will report the failure to Anthony. They will use their influence to brand you a fugitive. They will claim you kidnapped the girl and murdered their men."
"Let them," Michael replied, his intense eyes staring out the window into the dark. "David, where are we heading?"
The lawyer, still pale and clutching his briefcase, opened his laptop. "I have a secure safe house in the Swiss Alps, purchased under a dummy corporation years ago. It’s completely untraceable. But Michael... Anthony controls the board. By morning, he will freeze your personal accounts. We won't have the capital to fight a protracted legal battle."
"He controls my accounts," Michael corrected, his sharp features hardening into a mask of pure, absolute calculation. "He does not control Elena’s trust. You said Renee is the sole beneficiary of a two-billion-dollar estate."
"Yes, but the funds are locked in a holding pattern because she is legally classified as an orphan," David explained. "And Anthony positioned himself as the overseer."
"The adoption is fraudulent," Michael countered, his voice cold and unyielding. "The DNA test proves I am her biological father. If I am her father, she is not an orphan. And if she is not an orphan, Anthony has no legal standing over the trust."
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David’s eyes widened behind his glasses as the brilliant, ruthless legal strategy clicked into place. "If we file the DNA results with the Swiss banking authorities directly, bypassing the US courts, we can trigger an automatic transfer of the overarching trust to you, her biological guardian. We can financially decapitate Anthony before he even realizes we've struck."
Michael looked down at his sleeping daughter, gently brushing a light-brown curl away from her forehead. "Set the course for Geneva, Marcus. We are going to take back everything they stole."
