The Killer Queen

The house was alive with a fierce argument

“These two brats am Larson’s charity cases, we’re not exactly short on kids. What’s the harm in keeping them around?”

The middle–aged woman wound up her fist and took a swing at Luther’s face, “Who knows if this is the fruit of your infidelity? How did you treat the Grubers before? Now you’re getting your comeuppance! That’s what you get for conspiring with Arthur Gruber to off the old boss!”

“Come on, that mess with Larson and the other guy had nothing to do with me!”

So the death of the Shadow Dragon Society’s old boss wasn’t an accident? Malvina held her breath in shock.

Luther wasn’t about to take it lying down. He slapped the woman back, grabbed her hair, and smashed her head against the wall, “Keep yapping, and neither of us will make it out alive. The Grubers might be gone, but the Schnabels are still very much in play!”

The two grappled and scuffled, filling the room with the woman’s piercing scams.

Ten minutes later, the commotion inside died down.

Luther kicked at Yvonne, whose mouth was now sealed with black duct tape, and took a drag on his cigarette, “How did this girl get in touch with you?”

The woman on the floor, whose hair was a tangled mess, gasped for air and rolled her eyes, “You mean this kid from Duncan Gruber and my sister Queenie? Queenie didn’t dare let her husband find

out, so she was raised under the Schnabels‘ rool. Now that she’s locked up, the kid’s been dumped on me.” Còntens bel0ngs to Nô(v)elDr/a/ma.Org

Gagged, Yvonne couldn’t utter a word in response to this revelation.

What did they mean?

Her biological mother wasn’t Larson’s wife but Queenie, the woman who contacted her every day?!

But Queenie was just a high school dropout tumed housekeeper!

If it wasn’t for Ashlyn bringing her to the Schnabels to work, she’d probably still be jobless in some backwater town.

And she was her mother? Yvonne couldn’t accept it!

Luther glanced at Yvonne, “She looks like your sister. I thought she could play lady at the Schnabels, and it turns out that she’s got no game. All your sister’s scheming to snatch away Ms. Noella from the Schnabels was for naught”

“You think the Schnabels are pushovers? Larson sent men to take down Ms. Schnabel, and look how that turned out. My sister tried every poison in the book on the Schnabel clan and got nowhere.”

Outside, Ulrich and Malvina’s eyes were wide with disbelief.

Queenie had even tried to poison the Schnabels?

The middle–aged woman was still dredging up the past inside the door, “I gave Ashlyn so many ways to torment the Schnabel daughter–in–law, hoping one would leave her and the kids with a lifelong ailment. But never had I imagined that Ashlyn could be so useless. And all she sent to seduce Tristan

while the Schnabel daughter–in–law was in Jabor–all Larson and Arthur’s doing–didn’t make a dent.” She continued, The Grubers and Larson even tried planting spies around Marcel, but no avail”

Luther snorted, “If this girl and her mother had been of any use, the Schnabels would’ve met the same fate as the Grubers. We gave her so many Nourishment Pills to take to the Schnabels, all for nothing”

Yvonne was on the verge of a breakdown while listening. Were they telling the truth?

The Gruber family was either dead or in jail, their assets seized. And the Nourishment Pills were always Larson’s according to Luther.

The door was kicked open, and the man standing there, who was radiating menace, aimed a cold gun at Luther’s head.

“Don’t move, or you’ll be off to meet your maker” The man claimed.

“Who who are you?”

Who was this intruder?

Had he overheard their entire conversation?

Luther’s gaze darkened as he thought of these.

Malvina peeked out from behind Unch, “Long time no see, huh? You asked me to come find you, and now you’ve forgotten?”

“Malvina? What are you doing at the Pollacks‘?”

Ulrich pulled the trigger, and the silenced gun’s bullet pierced the air, wounding Luther and the woman in the leg.

As the estate scrambled to deal with the explosions elsewhere, no one paid any mind to the events unfolding here.

10:52

Yvonne saw Ulrich and began to wriggle desperately, hoping he’d take her away from this place.

She didn’t want to be the child of a bodyguard and a housekeeper anymore!

If she could just plead with Ulrich, he’d surely soften and take her back to the Schnabels.

Ulrich stepped on Yvonne’s reaching hand without a glance.

“Go find what you’re here for; I’ve got this covered.”

“Alright, Dr. Schnabel, be careful.”

Malvina stormed into Luther’s bedroom and began to rummage with a loud sound,

While waiting for Malvina, Ulrich wasn’t in any rush. He turned around, found a stool, sat down and held a delicate scalpel in his well–defined hand, I have zero patience, so pill the beans now, or I can’t promise that you’ll walk away from this alive.”

The manor was all ablaze after the recent explosion, Ulrich’s handsome face, half in the firelight and half hidden in the darkness, was a far cry from his usual elegant image. His gaze swept over Luther with an intensity that made his heart jolt with fear.

“After all, with the ruckus at the Larson estate tonight, a few extra bodies won’t cause much of a stir. Ulrich said.

Luther writhing in pain, looked at Ulrich with eyes wide with terror, “You’re from the Schnabels? How did you find me? I swear I don’t know anything about it–it was all Larson’s doing…”

“You were saying Larson wants every last Schnabel six feet under?”

It seemed the Grubers and Larson had been scheming for quite some time, lying in wait for the Schnabels‘ downfall.

Luther dared not speak the truth. If he’d known a Schnabel was lurking outside, he wouldn’t have dared reveal anything.

“You heard wrong! I never said that–it’s all lies…” As Luther spoke, he sidled back, and without Ulrich noticing, he hit the panic button!

A piercing alarm echoed through

through the manor, capturing everyone’s attention.

Even Larson, busy managing the aftermath, heard the sound and tumed sharply toward its source, “What’s that racket? Something must have happened. Take some men and check it out. Luther wouldn’t hit that thing without good reason. Arm yourselves, and don’t let a fly escape!”

“Understood!” A squad of armed guards rushed toward the comer of the row of townhouses.

Malvina burst from the house, clutching a box, and grabbed Ulrich’s arm, pulling him toward an escape.

“Dr. Schnabel, we’ve gotta bolt! He hit the alarm–that’s bad news! The Grubers had one too, if we don’t leave now, we’ll be caught in the blast!”

Malvina knew all too well about the Gruber family’s devices.

The sound of that dreaded alarm made her skin crawl

Luther desperate to keep his secrets, was actually willing to take Ulrich down with him.