CHAPTER 9 — “Victor’s Final Trap Was Waiting Inside Emily’s Own Home”
The helicopter disappeared into the storm.
Victor Blackwood was gone.
But Emily knew one thing.
He hadn't run.
He had simply moved the battlefield.
The next morning, federal agents searched every property connected to Victor.
Banks were frozen.
His companies were seized.
His closest associates were arrested.
The media declared him the most wanted man in America.
Everyone believed the nightmare was almost over.
Everyone...
Except Emily.
She couldn't shake the feeling that Victor had expected every move.
Then her phone rang.
It was the FBI.
"Mrs. Carter... your security cameras just went offline."
Emily froze.
"What?"
"Someone entered your mansion three minutes ago."
Emily, Michael, Evelyn, and a SWAT team raced back to the estate.
The front door stood wide open.
Nothing appeared stolen.
Everything was perfectly clean.
Too clean.
Then Emily noticed something strange.
Her father's old grandfather clock...
Had stopped ticking.
The time was frozen at 7:13 PM.
The same time her father had died twenty-eight years earlier.
Emily slowly opened the clock.
Hidden inside was a small wooden box.
On top sat a single chess piece.
The Black King.
Beneath it was a handwritten letter.
"Congratulations, Emily."
"You finally found the first clue."
Michael frowned.
"First clue?"
Emily unfolded the rest of the letter.
"If you're reading this..."
"...it means Victor has already betrayed everyone."
"But there is one secret even he never discovered."
Her father's handwriting became shakier.
"The true fortune was never money."
"It's something powerful enough to destroy governments..."
"...and powerful enough to make men kill their own families."
Emily looked up.
"What did he mean?"
Before anyone could answer...
The floor beneath the grandfather clock suddenly collapsed.
A hidden staircase appeared beneath the mansion.
No blueprints had ever shown it existed.
At the bottom...
An enormous underground vault stretched into darkness.
Rows of steel shelves.
Hundreds of locked boxes.
Thousands of confidential files.
And in the center...
A single computer.
Its monitor suddenly turned on by itself.
Victor's smiling face appeared on the screen.
"I knew you'd find it."
"But you're already too late."
Behind him...
A digital countdown had begun.
09:59...
09:58...
09:57...
Michael shouted,
"Everyone out!"
But Emily noticed one final message flashing beneath the timer.
'Deleting Project Phoenix Forever.'
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If the countdown reached zero...
Every piece of evidence against Victor would disappear forever.
