Chapter 5 - 10:52 PM
The hallway leading to the private wing was eerily silent compared to the roar of the gala below. Mara walked quickly, her heavy gown rustling against the carpet. Her watch read 10:45 PM. She had seven minutes.
She reached the nursery wing. The two guards Victor had assigned were standing outside her door—men she didn't recognize, both wearing tactical earpieces and holding concealed weapons beneath their jackets.
"Mrs. Cole," one of them said, stepping forward to block the entrance. "Mr. Hail instructed us to sweep the room before you enter."
"The room is fine," Mara said, keeping her voice firm. "Move aside."
"Orders, ma'am," the guard insisted, reaching for the door handle.
Before he could turn it, a dark figure stepped out from the shadowed alcove near the linen closet. A heavy, silenced pistol barked twice—sharp, muffled thuds that echoed like snapping branches.
Both guards collapsed instantly to the carpet.
Mara gasped, stumbling back against the wall, her hands flying to her stomach.
The shadowed figure stepped into the light, lowering the silenced weapon. It was Aaron Pike. His tactical vest was torn, blood staining his white shirt near his shoulder, his face bruised and smeared with soot.
"Mrs. Cole," Pike breathed, his voice ragged. "Don't scream. It’s me."
"Aaron!" Mara gasped, reaching out to steady him. "You're hit!"
"Grazed," Pike grunted, dragging the two fallen guards into the adjacent storage room with terrifying efficiency. "Victor tried to have me executed at the west gate thirty minutes ago. His men took out my team. He’s taking down the entire estate tonight, ma'am. He’s liquidating the Cole accounts and setting up a strike sequence that will wipe out the family."
"I know," Mara said rapidly. "I heard him talking to Simone in the study. He’s using my son’s trust as the siphon account. They’re blowing the west wing at 10:52."
Pike checked his watch. 10:49 PM. "We have three minutes. We need to move now. I have a vehicle cleared outside the north fence."
"My father set up a team at the north wall," Mara said. "We can meet them there."
"No time for the main hallways," Pike said, pulling an encrypted flash drive from his pocket and pressing it into her hand. "This drive contains the raw network logs from Victor’s server—proof that he altered the ledger and that Simone executed the transfers. It clears you, and it exposes him. Keep it safe."
"What about Adrien?" Mara asked, her voice trembling slightly despite her best efforts. "Pike... does he know?"
Pike looked at her with pity and absolute honesty. "Adrien only sees what Victor allows him to see, ma'am. Right now, Adrien thinks he’s fighting off an outside invasion. He’s blind."
Suddenly, the floor beneath them violently shuddered.
BOOM.
A massive explosion shattered the night air, blowing out the heavy structural windows of the grand ballroom three floors below. The sound was deafening, followed immediately by the screams of hundreds of terrified guests, the shattering of crystal chandeliers, and the blare of emergency alarms.
The house’s secondary emergency system kicked in. Red tactical lights flashed along the corridors, and heavy iron security doors began sliding down from the ceilings to isolate the wings.
"It’s happening!" Pike yelled over the sirens. "The lockdown sequence! Move!"
They ran toward the west service corridor, but as they reached the intersection, the ballroom glass below gave way entirely—the secondary charges at the west wing window went off with a blinding flash.
The ballroom windows came in at 10:52, a terrifying wall of fire and glass collapsing inward.
Adrien Cole stood in the lower concourse, covered in dust, his gun drawn. He had two choices. Two doors directly ahead of him through the smoke.
Right led upstairs to his pregnant wife. Left led down to the secure underground bunker where Simone was trembling under his arm, clutching a heavy leather brief containing the physical access keys.
Victor’s voice crackled coldly into Adrien’s earpiece, entirely calm, like a man reading a train schedule:
Mrs. Cole is secure in the nursery room. Pike confirmed. Verified.
May you like
Adrien looked at the stairs leading to Mara. He looked at Simone clinging to his side, screaming in fear. He trusted Victor’s confirmation with his life.
Adrien turned left.
