Chapter 4 - The Midnight Sabotage
Panic surged through Zola’s veins, threatening to drown her reason. For a split second, the image of everything she had bled for—the sewing machines, the safe rooms for battered mothers, the daycare—reduced to cinders made her vision blur.
"Cairo!" she screamed, racing out of the nursery into the wide living room.
Cairo was already awake, sitting at the glass dining table surrounded by corporate dossiers and legal binders. He leaped to his feet the moment he saw her face. "What happened?"
Zola shoved the screen into his hands. "They’re burning it. Your father is burning the center!"
Cairo looked at the photo, his jaw tightening into iron. He tapped his earpiece immediately. "Kato, scramble Alpha team to the Tando Center right now! Non-lethal force authorized. Intercept and detain anyone on the premises. Move!"
He grabbed his jacket, looking at Zola. "Stay here with the internal security team. You’re safe in this building."
"No," Zola said, her voice freezing the air between them. She was already pulling on her boots and grabbing a dark jacket. "I am not sitting in a luxury ivory tower while cowards destroy the only place that gives those women hope. I’m coming with you."
"Zola, it’s dangerous—"
"I faced hunger, winter storms, and labor on a dirt road alone, Cairo," she cut him off, her eyes blazing with an unyielding fire. "Do not tell me what is too dangerous for me. We go together."
Ten minutes later, two armored SUVs tore through the rain-slicked streets of Lusaka, sirens muted, cutting through the dark city like predators.
When they arrived at the Tando Center, the smell of kerosene was thick in the night air. Kato and Cairo’s security team had already breached the perimeter. Three men in tactical gear were pinned against the brick wall in handcuffs, their jerrycans and incendiary flares confiscated on the gravel driveway.
Zola leaped out of the SUV before it completely stopped. She ran toward the back entrance, inspecting the walls. The wood was soaked with fuel, but the fire had not been ignited.
"Who sent you?" Cairo bellowed, walking up to the lead saboteur. He grabbed the man by the collar of his tactical vest, slamming him against the brickwork. "Speak before I hand you over to the state anti-terrorism unit!"
The man spat blood onto the gravel, sneering. "Go ask your future bride, Mansa. She pays better than your old man."
Zola stopped dead in her tracks. "Vivienne Vance."
Suddenly, the headlights of an idling luxury sedan parked down the street flicked on. The high beams blinded them for a second before the engine roared and the car sped away into the night.
Cairo reached into the lead saboteur's vest and pulled out an encrypted burner phone. A notification was still glowing on the lock screen.
Target confirmed. Ensure total structural loss. Leave the market girl with nothing to lean on.
Cairo looked at Zola, his expression dark with murderous intent. "This isn't just about custody anymore. Vivienne and my father are working together to crush your spirit so you run away."
Zola walked up to the captured man, her gaze completely devoid of fear. She picked up one of the abandoned torches from the ground and tossed it into a puddle of water.
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"Tell Vivienne Vance that she missed her shot," Zola said coldly. "And tell her that if she wants a war with a market girl, she better prepare to lose everything she owns."
***
