Chapter 3 - Blood on the MarbleThe world seemed to tilt in slow motion.
Ethan twisted aside just in time, the heavy brass statue grazing his shoulder with a sickening thud that sent a jolt of white-hot pain down his arm. The momentum threw Richard off balance, sending him crashing into the antique mahogany side table, shattering a priceless Ming dynasty vase into a thousand glittering shards.
Sophie screamed, burying her face deeper into Ethan’s jacket.
Ethan didn't hesitate. Adrenaline surged through his veins, overriding the throbbing pain in his shoulder. He dropped the photograph into his coat pocket, swept Sophie up tighter with one arm, and launched himself at Richard before the other man could recover his footing. He drove his fist straight into Richard’s jaw with a satisfying crunch, sending the designer sprawling backward onto the shattered porcelain.
"Celeste! Help me, you idiot!" Richard roared, spitting blood onto the pristine white marble.
Ethan turned to face Celeste, but she wasn't running toward the door. She was sprinting toward the grand staircase—not to escape, but toward the panic room built into the reinforced master suite upstairs. The room that housed the master server for the entire estate’s security system, financial accounts, and physical vault keys.
"Oh no you don't," Ethan muttered.
He bolted after her, his boots pounding up the curved staircase. He thrust Sophie into the safety of the reinforced study on the second floor, locking the heavy oak door from the inside. "Stay right here, sweetheart. Daddy will be right back. Do not open this door for anyone except me. Understand?"
"Hurry, Daddy! She’s coming!" Sophie’s muffled cry pierced through the wood.
Ethan turned back to the hallway, sprinting down the corridor toward the master wing. The heavy mahogany doors to Clara’s former bedroom—now desecrated by Celeste’s brutal redecoration—stood wide open. Inside, the walk-in closet door was ajar, revealing the hidden biometric panel embedded in the wood paneling.
Celeste was standing in front of the open panel, her fingers flying across a digital keypad, sweat dripping down the back of her neck.
"You're locked out, Ethan!" she shrieked, slamming a master override button. "The corporate accounts are transferring to an offshore Cayman holding as we speak! The moment I hit execute, your empire vanishes, and Sophie comes with me!"
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Ethan lunged across the room, tackling Celeste hard to the floor just as a loud, mechanical CLANG echoed through the walls. The central vault had opened—not for her, but because Ethan’s emergency biometric backup had just overridden her sequence from the hallway keypad.
A small, hidden floor safe in the corner of the closet hissed open, releasing a plume of cold air. Inside wasn't money. It wasn't stocks. It was a stack of legal documents and a small, encrypted flash drive labeled in Clara's handwriting: 'If I Die.'
