Woman Slapped in Luxury Lobby Turns Out to Be the Billionaire's Long-Lost Granddaughter

Chapter 09 - The Fire and the Blood

BANG!

A deafening gunshot shattered the concrete vault, its echo reverberating violently off the stone walls.

But it wasn't Margaret’s gun that had fired.

Before Margaret could pull her trigger, Henderson had stepped smoothly in front of Charlotte, drawing his silenced sidearm and firing a single, precise shot straight into the hand of the mercenary standing beside Margaret.

The mercenary screamed as his weapon dropped to the floor.

At that exact millisecond, the heavy reinforced glass windows near the vault ceiling shattered inward!

CRASH!

Flashbang grenades rained down into the room, detonating with blinding white light and thunderous booms. Thick, white tactical smoke filled the vault instantly.

“POLICE! DROP YOUR WEAPONS! DOWN ON THE GROUND!”

Screams, chaos, and gunshots echoed through the swirling smoke as Henderson’s private security team breached the room through the upper ventilation shafts.

Charlotte didn't hesitate. Ignoring the blinding flashes and deafening noise, she sprinted straight through the smoke toward her grandfather’s chair.

She reached Sebastian, dropping to her knees, frantically untying the heavy ropes binding his wrists.

“Grandfather! Are you okay?!” Charlotte yelled over the noise.

“I’m fine, child! Get down!” Sebastian shouted, reaching out to cover her head as a stray bullet pinged off the concrete wall above them.

Through the thick smoke, a figure suddenly lunged toward them.

It was Margaret. Her gun had been knocked away, but her eyes were wild with pure, murderous insanity. She held a heavy steel letter opener in her hand, diving straight toward Charlotte’s back.

“If I go down, you’re coming with me!” Margaret shrieked.

Charlotte felt the rush of air behind her. Drawing upon years of surviving harsh foster home fights, Charlotte spun around on the floor, swept her leg out with all her force, and struck Margaret firmly across the shins.

Margaret tripped violently, crashing face-first onto the hard concrete floor. The letter opener flew out of her hand, skidding away into the darkness.

Before Margaret could scramble back up, Charlotte jumped to her feet, stepped forward, and pinned Margaret’s wrist firmly against the cold floor with her heel—the exact same way Margaret had stepped on her notebook twenty-four hours ago.

Charlotte leaned down, her eyes flashing with absolute, fierce authority.

“I told you last night, Margaret,” Charlotte said, her voice cutting through the ringing noise in the room like a steel blade. “Never touch my family again.”

Two heavy-armored tactical officers rushed through the smoke, tackling Margaret to the floor and pulling her arms roughly behind her back. Steel handcuffs snapped shut around her wrists with a heavy metallic click.

“Get your hands off me! I’m a Valle! You can’t touch me!” Margaret thrashed and screamed pathetically as she was dragged up from the floor, her wild eyes fixed on Charlotte with utter defeat.

Henderson stepped out of the smoke, lowering his weapon, his face covered in soot but his smile bright and proud. He walked over and helped Sebastian stand up from the chair.

Sebastian leaned heavily on Henderson’s shoulder, looking at Charlotte with immense pride and tears of pure joy in his eyes.