AUTHOR
The study was a pressure cooker of terror and rage, ready to explode.
Payton was still sobbing, her pleas becoming a broken mantra. "Daddy, please, please, just put it down..."
Denki's focus had narrowed to a single, desperate point: getting Payton out of the line of fire. "Payton, for God's sake, move!" he begged, his voice cracking. He could see the wild, unhinged look in Shunsuke's eyes. This wouldn't end well. "You're going to get hurt!"
Barbara, her own composure shattered, took a tentative step forward, her hands outstretched as if calming a wild animal. "Shunsuke, my love, listen to reason! Put the gun down and we can talk this through! This is not the way!"
But Shunsuke was beyond reason. He was a man staring into the abyss of his own ruin, and he was determined to take someone with him. "SHUT UP!" he roared, the veins in his neck bulging. His furious gaze was locked on Denki. "ANSWER ME, YOU WORTHLESS LITTLE SHIT!"
