CHAPTER 5 – THE KILLER WAS CLOSER THAN ANYONE IMAGINED
The conference room erupted into chaos.
Reporters shouted questions.
Board members reached for their phones.
Security locked every exit.
No one was leaving.
William Hayes raised his hand.
"Before Richard Holloway died, he left one final instruction."
He removed a small silver key from his pocket.
"This key opens a private vault that hasn't been touched in twenty years."
Daniel stared at it.
"What is inside?"
William answered quietly.
"The truth."
That night, Daniel, William, and Olivia entered Holloway Bank's underground vault.
After three layers of security, they reached Deposit Box 717.
Daniel inserted the key.
The lock clicked.
Inside was a leather journal...
A flash drive...
And dozens of photographs.
The first page of the journal read:
"If you are reading this, someone tried to erase my family."
Daniel's heart pounded.
As the video on the flash drive began to play, Richard Holloway appeared on the screen.
He looked older.
Tired.
And terrified.
"If anything happens to me," Richard said, "don't believe the official report."
"I'm being betrayed by someone I trusted more than my own family."
Daniel felt a chill run down his spine.
Richard continued.
"The person planning my death isn't an enemy..."
"It's someone sitting on my board of directors."
Every photograph inside the box showed secret meetings between executives.
One face appeared over and over again.
Marcus Kane.
The current Vice Chairman.
The man who had applauded Daniel only yesterday.
Olivia whispered,
"He was in the room today..."
William nodded.
"He never left the company."
"But that's not the worst part."
He handed Daniel one final envelope.
Inside was a DNA report.
Daniel unfolded it slowly.
His eyes widened.
"No..."
Olivia grabbed the paper.
She nearly dropped it.
Marcus Kane wasn't just a corrupt executive.
He was Richard Holloway's illegitimate son.
Daniel's half-brother.
Before anyone could process the revelation...
The lights inside the vault suddenly went out.
Darkness swallowed the room.
Then...
BANG!
A single gunshot echoed through the underground chamber.
William Hayes collapsed onto the floor.
Blood spread across his white shirt.
With his final breath, he grabbed Daniel's arm and whispered,
"Don't trust..."
Another gunshot rang out.
The emergency lights flickered on.
William was dead.
The leather journal was gone.
The flash drive had disappeared.
And Marcus Kane...
Had vanished without a trace.
Daniel looked up in horror.
He realized this had never been about stealing a company.
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It had always been a war for a billion-dollar empire...
And now, someone was willing to kill everyone standing in the way.
