Chapter 94: What Happened Back Then – Flashback 3

“Uncle grandpa…”

She did not finish. Major Trillo firmly took the phone from her hand.

“General Norse,” he said evenly, projecting his voice so the entire ballroom could hear, “this is Major Anton Trillo of the 1st Battalion, 3rd Marines. We currently have Azure Resort secured.”

A ripple of panic surged through the guests at the word secured.

“We do not intend to rebel,” he continued calmly. “We are here to air our grievances.”

Silence stretched on the other end of the line.

When the general spoke again, the warmth was gone.

“Major,” General Norse replied, each syllable edged in steel, “do you understand the weight of what you’ve just done?”

The major’s jaw flexed.

“Yes, sir.”

“And do you understand whose families are in that ballroom?”

A flicker passed through Trillo’s eyes.

He understood. Oh, he understood perfectly.

But he didn’t step back.

Instead, he said quietly—

“That is precisely why we chose it.”

And somewhere in the distance, far beyond the resort walls—

Sirens began to wail.

“Major Trillo, the resort is being surrounded,” the man in a navy blue uniform announced, no hint of panic in his voice.

“They come faster than expected. How about reporters from the media?”

“There is a product launch at the second floor and covered by two TV networks. “Some of them are outside the door.”

“Good, summon them inside.”

…

Deep at the foot of the Sandaya mountain range, where mist swallowed radio towers and secrets were buried beneath concrete and steel, a military helicopter roared to life.

Two young officers strode across the landing zone: Captain Artemio Fueguerra and Major Leonard Norse.

Without ceremony and no wasted words, they climbed aboard, faces cut from stone as the aircraft lifted into the afternoon sky.

By the time the helicopter touched down at the nearest airstrip, dusk had bled into night. Within the hour, they were on the next available flight—no luggage, no entourage, only urgency.

General Lucien Norse was overseas, negotiating an arms supply contract. He could not return on time.

Azure Resort glittered against the night sky when they arrived.

From the outside, it still looked like a celebration. Inside, it was a hostage crisis.

The rescue operation had already been named—Operation SpongeBob—a bitter irony that no one dared laugh at. It was headed by a veteran general with decades of field experience, because Azure Resort did not house ordinary civilians that afternoon.

Politicians. Business magnates. Military families.

If mishandled, the scandal would erupt nationwide and scorch the reputation of the Azuverda Military beyond repair.

By 9:00 PM, negotiations reached a fragile conclusion.

The mutineers’ demands—better equipment, fair investigations into corruption, structural reforms—were reasonable.

In truth, many within command quietly agreed with them.

But inside the ballroom, a smaller faction simmered.

They did not want reform. They wanted rank. They wanted salary increases. They wanted leverage.

And power.

Leonard and Artemio were granted entry into the premises under strict protocol.

They were searched thoroughly.

They entered only with their bodies and their resolve. No firearms. No communication devices.

The tension between a young marine lieutenant and Major Trillo had been escalating for the last fifteen minutes—sharp whispers, clenched jaws, muttered accusations of betrayal.

Then—

A gunshot cracked through the ballroom.

A security officer dropped instantly.

Dead.

The children screamed.

Major Trillo lunged to restrain the lieutenant, fury blazing in his eyes—but the younger man twisted free with desperate strength and bolted.

In one swift, reckless motion, he seized the most powerful hostage in the room.

One-year-old Lara Norse. Granddaughter of General Lucien Norse.

The room froze.

“No—give me back my daughter!”

Madeline’s composure shattered.

Her voice broke raw.

She stepped forward, hands raised, tears streaking her cheeks.

“Take me instead. Please. Just give me my daughter.”

Leonard, who had been at the play area retrieving Lucas, went still when he heard her.

He handed the boy to the nanny.

“Hide behind that pillar. Protect him.”

Another gunshot.

Madeline jerked as red blossomed across her shoulder.

“No, Addie!” Leonard cried.

But she did not stop.

Even bleeding, she moved toward her child and the man—small, determined steps that wavered as blood slipped through her fingers pressing on her wound.

“Stop or I’ll kill the child!” the lieutenant barked, pressing the barrel against Lara’s tiny head.

Madeline instantly stopped.

The baby began to cry—high, terrified sobs that tore through the room.

“Please,” Madeline begged, her voice collapsing. “Take me.”

“So noisy,” the lieutenant muttered, irritation overtaking fear.

He shifted his aim.

And pulled the trigger.

“No!”

Two voices thundered at once.

Artemio lunged forward.

Leonard came from behind.

Despite being farther, Leonard reached Madeline first.

He shoved her out of the line of fire and shielded her with his body as they crashed onto the marble floor.

Behind them—

Chloe, who had been standing just behind Madeline, fell forward.

Hubert was still locked in her arms.

He made no sound when the air left his lungs, as the back of his head hit the marble floor.

Then silence. A terrible, suffocating silence.

The lieutenant stared, stunned. He had meant only to frighten her.

He had not meant—

Blood pooled beneath Chloe’s head.

Her red dress darkened into something deeper.

Something final.

I’m finished, the lieutenant thought. There is no way out.

And yet—there was. He looked down at the bundle in his arms.

In the chaos, he backed toward the exit, carrying Lara with him.

No one dared fire. No one dared move.

He had the general’s granddaughter in his arms.

“Sis!”

Chloe’s sister’s scream snapped Artemio back to life.

He rushed to Chloe’s side and turned her over gently.

Hubert was still locked in her embrace. Her eyes were open but unseeing.

The bullet had entered cleanly through her forehead.

She had died instantly, and Hubert’s tiny body was limp. Mother and child were gone in the same breath.

Artemio’s world narrowed into a ringing void.

Across the room, Leonard knelt over Madeline, hands shaking as he pressed fabric against her wound, desperate to stop the bleeding.

Artemio’s gaze lifted—

And locked onto the retreating figure at the back exit.

He knew that man.

They had shared a dorm room in their freshman and sophomore years. Shared meals. Shared secrets. Shared dreams of serving the country.

They were best friends in high school.

And now—

He became the murderer of his family.

Artemio gathered his wife and son into his arms.

They felt impossibly heavy. Or maybe his legs had simply forgotten how to move.

He looked at Leonard.

Resentment burned where grief could not yet settle.

If Madeline hadn’t moved, if Leonard hadn’t pushed her, Chloe would still be alive.

But no, he did not want Maddie to die.

Leonard should have shielded her with his body instead of getting Madeline out of the way.

Leonard clearly saw that he was nearer Madeline at that time and was about to push her, so why did he not let him save Madeline?

He had passed by her. Why didn’t Leonard push Chloe out of the way too?

The thought clawed through him, vicious and irrational and unstoppable.

It is his fault. My family is dead because of him.

Outside, sirens wailed.

Inside, two friendships died with the woman on the marble floor.

And somewhere beyond the resort walls—

A fugitive officer disappeared into the night with the perfect hostage cradled in his arms.

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