CHAPTER 8 — The Final Secret
That night...
Evelyn couldn't sleep.
She stared at Richard's photograph for hours.
Something didn't make sense.
If Richard had survived...
Who had been buried in his place?
Lily quietly entered the room carrying an old wooden box.
"Martin told me to give you this if Richard ever came back."
Inside were Daniel Carter's final belongings.
A watch.
A fountain pen.
An old cassette tape.
And one small brass key.
Evelyn inserted the tape into an old recorder.
Daniel's voice filled the room.
"If you're hearing this..."
"I'm already dead."
"But Richard Hawthorne made one mistake."
"He never realized I copied everything."
"There is another vault."
"Not the one Eleanor knows about."
"A second vault."
"The original evidence."
"It can destroy every member of Project Phoenix."
Evelyn's heart raced.
Daniel continued,
"The key is hidden inside our mother's music box."
"The vault isn't in New York."
"It's beneath Saint Gabriel's Church."
"Trust no one..."
"Especially if Richard returns."
The recording ended.
Silence filled the room.
Before Evelyn could speak...
Every light in the house suddenly went out.
The security cameras went black.
A loud crash echoed downstairs.
Martin grabbed his pistol.
"They're here."
Masked men surrounded the house from every direction.
Laser sights swept across the windows.
Richard Hawthorne had found them first.
Evelyn quickly placed the brass key into Lily's hand.
"No matter what happens..."
"Don't let anyone take this."
A deep voice echoed from outside through a loudspeaker.
"Eleanor Carter."
"You have one minute."
"Give me the key..."
"Or everyone inside dies."
Lily looked at Evelyn with tears in her eyes.
"What do we do?"
Evelyn slowly smiled.
The same calm smile she wore the night champagne was poured over her head.
Because Richard believed he had cornered her.
What he didn't know...
Was that Evelyn had expected this moment for years.
She quietly pressed a hidden button beneath the table.
Miles away...
An encrypted server automatically activated.
A timer appeared on the screen.
UPLOAD STARTING...
00:59
Richard looked at his phone.
His expression changed instantly.
Someone shouted,
"Sir!"
"Every secret file is being released!"
Richard's confident smile disappeared.
For the first time in decades...
The man who controlled everyone...
Realized...
May you like
He was the one running out of time.
To Be Continued...
