CHAPTER 2: THE SECRET HER FATHER TOOK TO THE GRAVE
The pilot's hands trembled.
"Ethan... whatever that thing is... it's huge!"
The ocean began to churn.
Massive waves erupted around Victoria.
Yet strangely...
She wasn't drowning.
She seemed protected.
As if something beneath the surface was carrying her.
Then Ethan remembered a story.
A story Victoria's father once told during a family dinner years ago.
A classified government project.
Advanced marine defense technology.
Artificial intelligence capable of operating beneath the ocean.
The project had disappeared.
Everyone assumed it failed.
But Victoria's father never looked worried.
Now Ethan understood why.
The project had never failed.
It had been hidden.
Protected.
Waiting.
The ocean suddenly exploded upward.
A gigantic black structure emerged from beneath the waves.
Not a creature.
A machine.
An enormous autonomous rescue vessel.
Its sensors locked onto Victoria instantly.
A metallic voice echoed across the water.
"IDENTITY CONFIRMED."
"VICTORIA STERLING."
"PRIMARY HEIR DETECTED."
"EMERGENCY PROTECTION PROTOCOL ACTIVATED."
Ethan's face turned white.
No.
No.
No.
This couldn't be happening.
Then Victoria looked up at the helicopter.
And for the first time...
She wasn't frightened.
She was angry.
Very angry.
Because she had known something for months.
She knew Ethan was stealing money.
She knew he was meeting another woman.
She knew he had secretly contacted lawyers regarding her inheritance.
Her father had taught her one lesson before he died:
"Never ignore betrayal."
That was why she had installed a hidden emergency tracker linked to her father's secret project.
The moment her heartbeat spiked from danger...
The system activated.
Now everything was being recorded.
Every second.
Every movement.
Including the push.
Including the murder attempt.
Including Ethan's face.
The rescue vessel transmitted the footage directly to authorities.
To board members.
To investors.
To the media.
To everyone.
Ethan's phone began vibrating.
Then vibrating again.
And again.
And again.
Hundreds of calls.
Thousands of messages.
His entire world was collapsing.
But the worst was still coming.
Because Victoria had one final secret Ethan never knew.
A secret hidden inside the company itself.
A protocol that would activate only if someone attempted to harm her.
And within seconds...
That protocol began counting down.
10...
9...
May you like
8...
TO BE CONTINUED...
