Chapter 2 - The Hidden Vault
The screen flickered back to life,
The timeline of the video shifted backward,
The guests watched as the clock on the screen moved to an hour earlier,
The camera angle changed,
It showed the deep corridor leading to the family vault,
This was a place where only blood relatives were allowed,
The heavy steel door was supposed to be impenetrable,
But Isabella knew the codes,
She had watched her husband type them a thousand times,
She moved with a sense of urgency now,
Her blonde hair was tucked under a dark hood,
She looked like a ghost haunting her own home,
The red light of the keypad turned green,
The vault door groaned as it opened,
Inside,
Stacks of documents and gold bars glittered,
But Isabella wasn’t looking for gold,
She reached for a leather-bound folder,
It contained the family’s private financial ledgers,
The guests gasped as they saw her pull out a phone,
She began taking photos of every page,
The flash of her camera was like a heartbeat,
Fast,
Rhythmic,
And dangerous,
She was documenting the secrets of the business,
Information that could destroy their empire,
She wasn’t just a thief of jewels,
She was a thief of legacies,
The security officer enhanced the image,
The clarity was terrifying,
You could see the numbers on the pages,
The offshore accounts,
The investment portfolios,
Isabella’s hands were shaking as she worked,
Greed had made her nervous,
But she didn’t stop,
She finished the last page and closed the folder,
She placed it back exactly where it was,
Then,
She pulled out a small device,
She attached it to the back of the main computer terminal,
“A data skimmer,”
Arthur whispered,
His face turned a shade of pale that worried those near him,
“She was stealing the entire network,”
The video followed her as she exited the vault,
She wiped the keypad with a cloth,
Trying to erase her existence,
But the camera above saw everything,
It saw the cold calculation in her eyes,
It saw the way she checked her watch,
She was timing her escape,
She was timing the destruction of Maria,
The footage then showed her entering the hallway microphone’s range,
The audio was grainy at first,
But then the static cleared,
The sound of a phone ringing filled the ballroom,
Someone answered on the other end,
Isabella’s voice was a sharp contrast to her usual sweetness,
“It’s almost done,”
She said into the phone,
The room was so quiet you could hear a pin drop,
“Once she’s arrested for the necklace,”
“No one will suspect me of the missing funds,”
“The police will be too busy with the maid,”
“By the time they look at the books,”
“I’ll be halfway to Switzerland,”
The guests erupted into shocked whispers,
The betrayal was now a conspiracy,
The woman they had welcomed into their home was a parasite,
She had planned to use an innocent woman’s life as a shield,
Maria looked up at the screen,
Her eyes wide with a new kind of horror,
She hadn't just been framed for a crime,
She had been chosen as a sacrificial lamb,
Isabella’s confidence began to evaporate,
She looked around the room for an exit,
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But the security guards were already closing the doors,
The trap she had set for Maria had caught her instead.
