Chapter 13 - THE DISGRACED MOTHER-IN-LAW SURRENDERS HER SECRET DAUGHTER TO SAVE HER OWN LIFE!
Fire erupted in the sub-basement corridors as heavy black smoke rolled through the vents. Swing after swing, Chloe slammed the heavy iron axe into the electronic door lock, her hands bleeding, her lungs burning with smoke.
With a final shattering blow, the electronic seal snapped! The maintenance workers stumbled out, coughing and gasping for air, scrambling toward the safety of the stairs.
"Get out! Go!" Chloe yelled, shoving the last worker toward safety just as a ceiling beam collapsed right behind them, cutting off the main exit!
Meanwhile, Maya dashed into the core server room, her fingers flying across the master console. She bypassed three layers of Arthur’s military-grade encryption, extracting the core ledger onto a secure drive seconds before the hard drives melted into liquid slag.
As the smoke cleared and fire crews extinguished the blaze, emergency paramedics tended to Chloe on the stretcher outside. Eleanor wrapped a heavy blanket around Chloe’s trembling shoulders, kissing her soot-covered forehead.
"You risked your life for those men," Eleanor whispered emotionally. "That is what a true Vance does."
At that moment, an armored police convoy pulled up to the perimeter. A high-ranking warden stepped out and approached Eleanor.
"Madam Chairwoman," the warden reported solemnly. "Victoria Sterling is demanding an emergency meeting with you from maximum-security detention. She claims she has information regarding the hidden third mastermind behind Arthur Vance—and she will only speak if Chloe is present."
An hour later, behind the bulletproof glass of the visitor room, Victoria Sterling sat in orange scrubs. Her high-society arrogance was entirely replaced by wild-eyed panic.
"Victoria," Eleanor said coldly over the intercom. "You have thirty seconds before I walk out."
"It wasn't just Arthur!" Victoria whispered frantically, pressing her hands against the glass, looking terrified at Chloe. "Arthur was just a middleman! The money... the kidnapping... the corporate sabotage... it was all funded by a shadowy syndicate known as The Apex Group!"
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Chloe frowned. "The Apex Group? That's a myth... an urban legend among Wall Street firms."
"It's not a myth!" Victoria cried, tears leaking down her face. "Their leader... the man behind the curtain... he isn't dead, Eleanor! He’s been sitting inside your inner circle for twenty years! And he’s coming for your daughters tonight!"
