Chapter 14 - The Last Vote
Daniel Price emerged behind Harrison.
This time there were no elaborate games.
No hidden ledgers.
No anonymous messages.
Price had lost everything.
That made him more dangerous.
“Come with me, Sienna.”
Mateo moved in front of her.
Price pressed the gun harder against Harrison.
“Not you.”
Harrison looked at Sienna.
“Don’t.”
For once, he was not asking her to save him.
Sienna understood.
Price wanted access to one final account.
Dominic’s emergency reserve.
Hundreds of millions hidden through bearer structures.
Only Sienna’s newly activated Mercer authority and Mateo’s North Atlantic interest together could release it.
The marriage had made them the keys.
Price still believed he could force them.
Sienna stepped forward.
“I’ll do it.”
Mateo caught her arm.
She looked at him.
Trust me.
He released her.
Price forced them toward an old customs building.
Inside, a laptop waited.
Sienna entered her credentials.
Mateo was ordered to enter his.
The transfer screen appeared.
$286,400,000.
Price smiled.
“Approve it.”
Sienna clicked.
TRANSFER REJECTED.
Price’s smile disappeared.
“What did you do?”
“Changed the voting structure.”
“When?”
“This morning.”
The employee trust.
Camille’s shares.
Evelyn’s trust.
No two individuals could move controlling assets anymore.
Price aimed the gun at Sienna.
“You destroyed three hundred million dollars.”
“No.”
She looked at him.
“I made sure it belonged to people you couldn’t threaten one at a time.”
Police lights suddenly flashed outside.
Price grabbed Sienna.
Mateo moved.
Harrison moved faster.
He struck Price’s arm.
The gun fired.
Sienna screamed.
Harrison fell.
Mateo tackled Price.
Federal agents stormed inside.
Price was pinned to the floor.
Sienna dropped beside her father.
Blood spread across his shirt.
“Dad.”
Harrison looked at her.
For once, there was no clever explanation.
No request.
No deal.
“I’m sorry.”
“Save your strength.”
“I should have protected you by teaching you the truth.”
Tears blurred her vision.
“Dad.”
“Not by deciding your life.”
Paramedics rushed in.
They took him.
Sienna stood outside the hospital three hours later when the surgeon finally emerged.
Harrison would live.
She cried.
Mateo held her.
Not because a contract required him to.
Because she leaned into him first.
Price returned to custody.
This time there would be no escape.
Weeks passed.
The final board meeting took place at Mercer headquarters.
Sienna entered without Lorenzo.
Without Mateo.
Without her father.
She stood alone.
Exactly as she had wanted from the beginning.
The board voted.
The employee trust passed.
Camille retained an independent protective interest.
Sienna became executive chair.
Professional management replaced Harrison’s old inner circle.
Mercer Shipping was no longer collateral.
Afterward, Sienna returned to Lorenzo’s office.
The original marriage contract sat framed behind his desk.
She stared at it.
“You framed it?”
“A reminder.”
“Of what?”
“Never negotiate with you while you’re angry.”
She almost smiled.
Mateo entered.
He held another document.
Sienna frowned.
“What is that?”
“Divorce papers.”
The room went silent.
Mateo placed them on the desk.
“You married me because circumstances trapped you.”
Sienna stared at him.
“I want to remove the trap.”
He had already signed.
Her throat tightened.
“If you want this marriage,” Mateo said, “I need to know you chose it when walking away cost you nothing.”
He placed a pen beside the papers.
Then he left.
No pressure.
No performance.
Sienna stood alone with the document.
She could finally leave.
No debt.
No threat.
No company at risk.
No father demanding sacrifice.
No mafia boss giving orders.
Freedom sat beneath her hand.
May you like
She picked up the pen.
And signed her name.
