Chapter 354 Finish What I Started

Chapter 354 Finish What I Started

Rebecca did not scream when she heard the gunshot, if at all she made any sound, it was swallowed by the terrifying silence that seemed to consume everything around her.

The world seemed to warp and fade into a distant, muted blur, her vision becoming increasingly unfocused as her chest tightened so painfully that it felt as though no oxygen could reach her lungs. She was physically present in the room, but her mind had already detached itself from reality, trapped somewhere deep inside a horrifying daze where time appeared to have completely stopped and nothing around her seemed real anymore.

Michael casually shook Adrian's lifeless hand off his boot as though it were nothing more than an inconvenience, then stepped directly over his body and closed the remaining distance between himself and Rebecca. Reaching down with rough, calloused fingers, he grabbed a large fistful of her hair and violently yanked her upward until she was forced onto her feet.

Rebecca felt the sharp pull against her scalp, but she barely reacted, her eyes remaining hollow and unfocused as she stared into nothingness, looking almost like a broken doll whose mind had simply stopped functioning.

"Look at what you have done, Rebecca," Michael hissed directly into her ear, his hot breath brushing against her skin.

"Look at the mess you created. Every single person who ever gets close to you ends up dead because of your absolute selfishness. You bring ruin to everyone around you. Why couldn't you just die and save everyone the trouble?" he asked, but Rebecca said nothing, her expression remaining completely blank as though his words were reaching someone who was no longer capable of understanding them.

Seeing that Rebecca wasn't responding to anything around her, Michael slowly raised the gun and pressed the cold metallic muzzle against her temple, his finger settling against the trigger as he prepared to end her life.

He was just about to squeeze the trigger when suddenly....

"DROP THE GUN." A loud voice thundered across the room, shattering the suffocating silence.

Michael's head snapped toward the entrance as the doors were suddenly thrown open and several police officers rushed into the room with their weapons raised, with Derek, Ryan, and several security personnel following closely behind them.

"DROP THE WEAPONS," another officer shouted, his voice echoing sharply through the room.

Michael immediately tightened his grip around Rebecca, pulling her limp body closer against his chest and using her as a human shield, while several police officers spread throughout the room, their weapons aimed directly at him.

"Don't move." one of them shouted.

Michael's remaining men immediately attempted to react, but they were heavily outnumbered, and within moments, the police overwhelmed them, with some dropping their weapons and surrendering while others were tackled to the ground and restrained.

Several officers moved toward the fallen men, securing their weapons and dragging them away from the main confrontation, while other officers remained inside the room, their weapons still trained directly on Michael.

The moment Derek burst into the room, his eyes immediately swept across the chaos, he briefly looked at Adrian's body, before his eyes locked onto Rebecca, who was being held at gunpoint, and then his gaze traveled slowly upward toward the face of the man holding his wife and he froze.

For several seconds, he could barely breathe. The man holding the gun against Rebecca's head was Mr. Benjamin, the wealthy investor who had sat across from him in his boardroom, shaken his hand, discussed business with him, and closed several deals with him only weeks earlier.

"Mr. Benjamin...?" He gasped, his voice shaking with disbelief as he took a cautious step forward, raising his open hands in a desperate attempt to show that he wasn't a threat. "Michael... it was you all along? Please, drop the gun and let her go. We can talk through this, we can find a way to settle this, just don't hurt my wife."

Michael shifted his grip, pulling Rebecca's limp body even tighter against his chest as he kept the cold barrel of the gun firmly pressed against her skull, while a dark, arrogant smile slowly spread across his reconstructed face.

"Drop the gun?" he sneered, his eyes darting between Derek, Ryan, and the dozen laser sights aimed directly at his chest. "Just how foolish do you think I am, Derek? Why on earth would I drop my only protection when I know damn well that the second I release this woman, you and your little army will fill me with lead? There is no proof and no guarantee that I will walk out of here alive if I let her go."

Derek's breathing became heavier, his face tight with panic as he stared helplessly at Rebecca in Michael's grasp. He knew that one wrong move could cause Michael to pull the trigger without hesitation, and because of that, every instinct inside him was screaming at him to rush forward, yet he knew that doing so could cost Rebecca her life. He had to be careful, had to remain calm and most importantly had to find a way to keep Michael talking.

He slowly turned his head toward Ryan, who gave him an almost imperceptible nod, silently signaling him to keep Michael distracted while the tactical officers carefully adjusted their positions and sightlines.

Derek swallowed hard before forcing his trembling voice to sound as steady and controlled as possible.

"Why did you do it, Michael? Why go through all the trouble of changing your entire face through surgery and approaching my company as an investor?" he asked, unable to hide the disbelief in his voice because he still couldn't understand how easily Michael had managed to enter his life without him ever suspecting the truth.

Michael let out a dark, proud chuckle, clearly enjoying the attention and the fact that everyone in the room was focused on him.

"How else was I supposed to get close to you, Derek?" he asked with a smug smile. "If I had walked into your office building with my real face and my real name, your security would have gunned me down before I even reached the lobby, so taking up a completely new identity and posing as a wealthy businessman was worth every single dollar I spent and every cut of the surgeon's knife."

Derek's jaw tightened.

"Then why come after me first?" he pressed, taking another slow, almost imperceptible step forward in an attempt to draw Michael's attention entirely toward himself. "Why use all that leverage against my business?"

"Because Rebecca was guarded like a fortress," Michael spat, his voice rising with irritated arrogance. "You had her surrounded by private security almost all the time, and there was no clean way to take her without starting a war in the middle of the city, so I had to find another way in. I had to use you as the bait, Derek. Ruining you, bankrupting you, and ripping away your empire was the only way to leave her vulnerable enough for me to take her."

Derek's eyes remained fixed on Michael, but his mind was working rapidly as he tried to keep him talking for as long as possible.

But Michael, however, seemed to realize what was happening. His eyes narrowed slightly as he studied Derek, and the arrogant amusement that had been on his face slowly disappeared, replaced by a colder and more dangerous expression.

"Enough of this pointless talking," he growled, his thumb slowly pulled back the hammer of the gun and the mechanical sound echoed through the room.

Rebecca's body remained limp against him, her eyes still distant and unfocused as though she had no idea what was happening around her.

Derek's heart nearly stopped when he heard the sound.

"Michael..." he warned quietly.

Michael's finger slowly settled against the trigger.

"It is time to finish what I started," he said coldly.

His finger began squeezing the trigger against Rebecca's temple and in that exact split second, another gunshot exploded through the room.