Chapter 206: The Riot
As Ryan’s words hung in the air, he delivered a brutal kick to the lead guard's knee. A sickening crack followed by a scream turned the romantic proposal into a battlefield.
Ryan stepped in front of Evelyn, glaring at the remaining security. "Don't move!"
Suddenly, more footsteps thundered from the entrance. This time, it wasn't guests. Dozens of armed federal agents flooded the room. At their head was Chief Connor Sullivan.
"FBI!" Connor shouted. His gaze locked onto the pale Richard Covington. "Mr. Covington, the wedding is canceled. But we’ve prepared another party for you."
"Connor?" Richard crushed his cigar in his fist, the embers burning his palm, but he didn't feel it. "You dare crash my event? I have immunity! My lawyers will have your badge!"
"Save it," Evelyn said, stepping out from behind Ryan. She ignored the old man and walked to the control booth on the side of the stage. The technicians had already been detained by police.
Evelyn opened her folder, took out the encrypted drive, and plugged it into the main computer. A second later, the LED screens flickered. The "sweet photos" of Ryan and Camilla vanished, replaced by horrific financial reports, money laundering records, and high-definition photos of Richard meeting with members of the Twin Snakes.
The room gasped. Media cameras swiveled to the screens.
"Prime Textiles, registered in the Caymans, controlled by Richard Covington," Evelyn said into a microphone, her voice terrifyingly calm. "Over the last five years, this 'factory'—which doesn't have a single machine—has sent three hundred million dollars to a trust in Zurich. That money went straight to illegal armed groups in the Middle East and South America."
The screen changed to the photos Ryan found. Richard was handing a black briefcase to a man with a twin snake tattoo on his arm.
"And this," Evelyn pointed. "A transaction from last month labeled 'Cleaning Fee.' The recipient? The assassin who took out the Lawrence family’s previous consultant."
"No! It’s fake! It’s all fake!" Richard panicked. He shoved past guards and lunged for the console. "Turn it off! Shut it down!"
Two agents tackled him to the ground. "Let me go! I’m a friend of the Secretary of Energy! You can't touch me!" Richard’s face was pressed into the carpet, his expensive suit covered in dust. He screamed like a dying pig.
"Ryan..." On the other side of the stage, Camilla collapsed. She looked at her father, then at Ryan. Her makeup was a mess of tears. "You lied to me... Everything these last few days... the shares, the words... all fake? Just for this?"
Ryan looked down at her. "Those shares were stripped of value. They carry nothing but debt and legal risk." His voice was ice. "Camilla, the moment you and your father targeted Evelyn, this was the only possible ending."
He turned away from the broken woman and walked to Evelyn. In front of the cameras, he took her hand—the one that was shaking slightly with adrenaline. He raised their joined hands to the crowd.
"I, Ryan Lawrence, have only ever loved one person: Evelyn Bell." His voice filled every corner of the room. "This alliance was a trap to catch Richard. To anyone who tries to hurt Evelyn... this is what happens."
Evelyn looked at his profile, her tension finally breaking. They had won. They had torn away the masks.
However, just as the handcuffs were coming out for Richard, the world exploded.
"Don't move!"
From the guest tables, several men dressed as waiters suddenly drew suppressed pistols and submachine guns from under trays and inside vases. They opened fire on the police without hesitation.
Pop! Pop! Pop!
Gunfire shattered the crystal chandeliers. Glass rained down. Guests screamed and trampled each other to get out.
"Get down!" Ryan shoved Evelyn to the floor behind the marble dais, shielding her with his body. Bullets sparked against the stone.
"Twin Snakes!" Connor yelled, returning fire. These men were professionals. They didn't care about collateral damage. They pinned the police down while tossing smoke grenades.
Thick white smoke filled the ballroom. In the chaos, two masked gunmen reached Richard, cutting his zip-ties and shooting the agents guarding him.
"Get me out of here! Now!" Richard scrambled up like a drowning man.
"Go!" The gunmen covered him as they broke for the emergency exit.
"We can't let him go!" Evelyn shouted through the smoke.
Ryan grabbed a fallen guard's gun. Aiming toward the sounds of the exit, he fired three shots. A scream of pain came from the smoke—Richard had been hit—but the footsteps didn't stop. They were frantic and fading.
Police reinforcements flooded in, their superior firepower finally crushing the gunmen’s defense. Realizing there was no escape, the remaining terrorists pulled pins on grenades.
BOOM!
The explosion rocked the building. A corner of the ballroom collapsed in a cloud of dust. When the smoke cleared, the room was a ruin.
Richard Covington was gone. Most of the gunmen were dead; a few survivors were twitching on the floor. Connor walked over, clutching a bleeding arm. "He got away. They had a chopper on the roof."
Evelyn looked at the wreckage, a sense of dread rising in her. Just then, a gurgling laugh came from a dying gunman leaning against a pillar. He looked at them with eyes full of madness.
"You think... you won?" He spat blood. "The Snake... has two heads. You cut one... the other bites harder."
"The organization won't stop... and neither will the nightmare for that woman. It's just beginning."
His head slumped. He was dead.
"Are you hurt?" Ryan asked, his hands covered in soot and blood.
Evelyn shook her head. Her resolve hardened. She gripped Ryan’s hand.
"Let them come," she said. "I'm not afraid anymore. As long as we're together, I'll take them all down."