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The heavy marble echo of the mansion hallway seemed to swallow the silence left behind by the cut-to-black. Damian stood frozen, his eyes locked onto the two security guards stationed near the grand double doors. One of them—Miller, a veteran head of internal security who had served the family for over a decade—was subtly shifting his weight backward, his hand hovering fractions of an inch away from his holster. / Chapter 7 / 15

Chapter 7 - The Tungsten WedgeThe heavy steel elevator doors slammed shut against Damian’s signet ring with a brutal crunch, grinding to a violent, shuddering halt just two inches short of a complete seal.

Inside the descending car, Sophie gasped, stumbling back against the sterile white wall. Lily remained completely limp, her breathing slow and rhythmic under the hypnotic drone of the pendant. Bruno immediately spun around, lowering his massive head, a warning growl rumbling in his throat as he padded toward the gap in the doors.

"Miller! The manual override!" Sophie screamed, her composed mask finally cracking. "He's blocking the shaft!"

Miller lunged at the secondary control panel inside the elevator, slamming his palm onto the emergency lockout button. CRACK. The hydraulic cables screamed in protest as the elevator attempted to crush the tungsten ring and force its way downward into the subterranean core.

Damian screamed, blood spraying from his nose as the crushing weight of the descending car strained against his arm, which he had jammed into the gap to support the ring. Every bone in his forearm felt like it was splintering into powder. But he didn't let go. His fingers locked around the heavy metal frame of the door track, using his entire body weight as a human wedge.

"You... won't... take her!" Damian roared, his voice sounding like grinding gravel.

Suddenly, Bruno stopped growling. The Cane Corso pressed his massive snout directly against the narrow gap between the doors. His dark, intelligent eyes locked onto Damian’s bloodshot gaze. The dog didn't attack. Instead, with a surprising display of fine motor control, Bruno raised his heavy paw and gently pushed against Damian’s bleeding hand—not to crush it, but to shove the ring deeper into the safety latch mechanism.

CLCK-WHIRR.

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