Chapter 5 - Richard Trapped Me Underground With My Fiancée and Bruno—Then He Revealed the Real Reason He Had Been Hunting My Family for YearsThe lights went out.
Bruno growled.
Vivienne grabbed my hand.
“Stay close.”
“I thought you were undercover.”
“I am.”
“You could have told me.”
“I couldn't.”
“Why?”
“Because Richard had your house bugged.”
I stared.
“Then how did you survive?”
“I had help.”
Daniel.
He was outside.
Richard's voice echoed again.
“You always were predictable, Adrian.”
I shouted,
“Show yourself.”
A laugh.
“You found the ledger.”
“Yes.”
“You found your dog.”
“Yes.”
“You found your brother.”
I looked at Vivienne.
“And now you're all together.”
The doors opened.
Men entered.
Armed.
Richard stepped forward.
Older.
Calm.
Smiling.
“You've ruined twenty years of work.”
I raised my weapon.
“You murdered my father.”
“No.”
He shook his head.
“He betrayed me.”
“My mother?”
“Guilty.”
I stared.
“Why?”
“Because she wanted out.”
Richard explained.
The network had been built to control markets.
Shipping.
Energy.
Healthcare.
Finance.
My father created it.
Richard maintained it.
My mother discovered it.
She tried to expose them.
Richard used her fear.
Then my father tried to leave.
Everything collapsed.
My parents died.
Daniel disappeared.
I was left to inherit.
Richard wanted the ledger.
I was the only person who could access it.
Bruno had been used as the final safeguard.
I looked at my dog.
He had unknowingly carried the key.
Richard laughed.
“Isn't it poetic?”
“No.”
I raised my weapon.
“You're finished.”
He smiled.
“Maybe.”
He pointed toward Vivienne.
“She knows where the rest of the evidence is.”
Vivienne went pale.
“What?”
“You thought the ledger was complete.”
Richard laughed.
“It isn't.”
“There is a second ledger.”
I looked at him.
“Where?”
“In the person you trust most.”
My heart stopped.
He looked at me.
“Your fiancée.”
I turned to Vivienne.
“No.”
Richard laughed.
“She has it.”
Vivienne shook her head.
“I don't.”
“Search her.”
His men moved.
I stepped forward.
“Touch her and die.”
Richard smiled.
“There's the Adrian I remember.”
Then the gunfire started.
Daniel's men attacked from outside.
Chaos.
I grabbed Bruno.
Vivienne grabbed the evidence.
We ran.
The building shook.
People screamed.
We escaped through the service tunnel.
Richard disappeared.
The police arrived minutes later.
But the second ledger was still missing.
Vivienne looked at me.
“I need to tell you something.”
“What?”
“I know where it is.”
I stared.
“Where?”
She touched my chest.
“Your father's old watch.”
I frowned.
He had left me a watch.
I had worn it for years.
I removed it.
Opened the back.
A tiny compartment.
Inside—
microfilm.
The second ledger.
I stared.
My father had hidden it inside the watch I wore every day.
Richard had never found it.
The evidence was overwhelming.
We handed it to federal authorities.
The investigation exploded.
Thousands of accounts frozen.
Dozens of arrests.
Several politicians resigned.
Doctors.
Bankers.
Lawyers.
Businessmen.
The network collapsed.
Richard disappeared.
For several days, no one knew where he was.
Then he called me.
“Congratulations.”
“Where are you?”
“Closer than you think.”
“What do you want?”
“You.”
“Why?”
“You took everything from me.”
“No.”
“You did.”
He hung up.
Then Bruno barked.
I looked at him.
His ears were raised.
He stared toward the garden.
Someone was there.
A shadow.
I ran outside.
A man disappeared into the trees.
On the ground was a note.
THE FINAL ACCOUNT IS UNDER THE HOUSE.
I looked at the mansion.
My father's hidden network.
The tunnels.
The secrets.
May you like
Something was still buried beneath us.
And Richard wanted us to find it.
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