Chapter 5 - The Estate Under SiegeThe ground shuddered beneath the guests' feet.
Overhead, the glittering crystal chandeliers swung violently, showering the ballroom floor with sparkling shards of glass. Screams erupted as panic tore through the crowd once more.
“What was that?” Owen shouted over the noise, rushing toward Ethan with his tablet. “Ethan, external network feeds just came back online! We’re under a coordinated cyber attack!”
“Talk to me, Owen! Give me status!” Ethan ordered, dodging a group of fleeing investors.
“It’s not just cyberspace!” Owen yelled, pointing toward the floor-to-ceiling glass walls overlooking the estate's sprawling private entrance gates. “Look outside!”
Through the reinforced glass, rolling billows of thick, black smoke were rising from the main security checkpoint half a mile down the drive. Flashing red and blue lights flickered in the distance, but they weren't police cruisers—they were unmarked tactical vehicles breaching the estate perimeter.
“They’re hitting the primary server vaults in the basement!” Owen gasped. “The physical backup drives for Caldwell Systems are housed down there! If they wipe the main servers, they wipe every financial record, every patent, and every title deed we own!”
Harrison Sterling’s face drained of all color. He pushed past Brooke, grabbing Ethan’s lapels with desperate hands. “Ethan! You have to stop them! If those vaults go down, my empire—our entire family name—is wiped out with it!”
“Your family name?” Ethan ripped Harrison’s hands off his jacket with a look of pure disgust. “You and your daughter planned to murder me twenty minutes ago. Why on earth would I save you?”
“Because they aren't just after your company, Ethan!” Brooke screamed over the chaos, tears finally breaking through her cold facade. “Marcus didn't just work for Dad… he answered to the Syndicate! They’ve been buying up our debt for months! If they take your servers, they control the entire regional power grid and infrastructure software! They’re going to burn Caldwell Ridge to the ground!”
Ethan looked from Brooke to Marcus, who was still smirking against the security guards’ grip.
“It’s bigger than a corporate merger,” Ethan muttered under his breath. It was a hostile takeover of an entirely different magnitude.
“Ethan!” Rachel Monroe cried out, clutching Lily tight as security formed a protective circle around them. “The service elevator! They’ve breached the lower service tunnels! Men in tactical gear are coming up through the kitchens!”
Ethan’s eyes narrowed. He looked down at his tailored tuxedo, then reached behind his back, unclipping a heavy brass master key-card from his belt loop—the only physical key that could unlock the estate’s secondary emergency armory hidden behind the grand ballroom's fireplace.
“Owen, take the guests and secure the inner panic room behind the East Gallery,” Ethan commanded.
“And you?” Owen asked, his eyes wide. “Ethan, you can’t fight an armed tactical squad by yourself!”
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Ethan pulled a sleek, matte-black firearm from the concealed wall compartment, checking the magazine with a practiced click.
“I’m not fighting them by myself,” Ethan said, a dangerous, cold smile touching his lips. “It’s time to show these outsiders who actually owns Caldwell Ridge.”
