Chapter 8 - The Siege of Greenwich"That wasn't an external breach," Sebastian muttered, his expression instantly hardening as he grabbed my hand and pulled me behind the heavy oak desk. "That's an internal override code. Grandfather knows we're in the archives."
Heavy footsteps echoed outside the reinforced library doors, accompanied by the distinct, terrifying sound of tactical rifle bolts clicking into place.
"Mr. Vale!" a gruff voice called through the intercom. "Step away from Miss Miller and open the vault doors. Mr. Jonathan Vale has authorized immediate containment protocol under the national security exemption clause."
"They're going to lock us away," I whispered, panic clawing at my throat as I thought of Noah, Ivy, and Owen sleeping upstairs in the west wing. "Sebastian, the babies—"
"The babies are safe," Sebastian interrupted, pulling a heavy tactical keycard from his pocket and unlocking a hidden panic tunnel built into the base of the bookshelf. "My personal security detail is loyal to me, not my grandfather. They have standing orders to evacuate the children to our safe house in Vermont if the main estate is compromised."
"I'm not leaving without seeing them!" I protested, trying to pull my hand back.
"Elena, listen to me," Sebastian said, his grip tightening until it hurt, his gray eyes burning with fierce, absolute protection. "If my grandfather takes us tonight, he will erase us both. He will lock you away in a private psychiatric facility and claim you had a breakdown. I will be stripped of my board position and placed under house arrest. Our children will be raised as corporate assets who never know their real parents."
The heavy oak doors of the library began to shudder under the impact of a hydraulic battering ram. Wood splintered, and the reinforced hinges groaned in protest.
"Move!" Sebastian shoved me into the dark, narrow tunnel just as the library doors burst inward, revealing a dozen armed private security agents led by a smirking Daniel Mercer.
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Sebastian didn't run. He stood in front of the open vault door, his hands casually tucked into his pockets, facing down his grandfather's mercenaries with ice in his veins.
"You're too late, Mercer," Sebastian said smoothly as the tunnel door began to close automatically. "The federal audit is already in motion. Say goodbye to the Vales."
