Chapter 5 - Five Minutes to Live
The hangar became chaos.
Security teams rushed to the doors.
Richard stared at the countdown.
Four minutes thirty seconds.
Adrian grabbed Lena's hand.
“Come on.”
“Where?”
“Under the fuel tunnel.”
They ran.
Behind them, Marcus shouted.
“Adrian!”
He turned.
Marcus stood frozen.
Eleanor had disappeared.
Richard followed.
Adrian pulled Lena through a maintenance passage.
The timer continued.
Three minutes.
The tunnel was narrow.
Dark.
Lena stumbled.
Adrian caught her.
“You okay?”
“Yes.”
“Keep moving.”
“Where are we going?”
“There's an emergency exit.”
They reached it.
Locked.
Adrian swore.
Lena looked around.
“Wait.”
She pulled Michael's flash drive from her pocket.
“What's that?”
“The rest of the evidence.”
“Why do you still have it?”
“I copied it.”
Adrian stared.
“When?”
“While you were asleep.”
He almost smiled.
“You're good.”
“I've had practice surviving.”
She found a schematic inside the flash drive.
“There's another way.”
She pointed.
“Behind this wall.”
Adrian looked.
A maintenance panel.
He tore it open.
They crawled through.
Thirty seconds later, they emerged outside.
The hangar exploded.
Fire shot through the windows.
The blast threw them onto wet concrete.
Lena landed against Adrian.
He covered her with his body.
When the smoke cleared, the hangar was burning.
Marcus was missing.
Richard had escaped.
Eleanor was gone.
Adrian stood.
His coat was torn.
Blood ran down his forehead.
Lena stared at him.
“You're hurt.”
“I'm fine.”
“You're bleeding.”
“So are you.”
She touched her cheek.
A cut.
Nothing more.
Adrian looked toward the fire.
He knew the war had changed.
There was no longer any pretense.
His mother wanted him dead.
Richard had chosen between loyalty and fear.
Marcus was still loose.
And Lena was now the legal heir to the empire everyone was killing to control.
They returned to the estate.
Adrian finally told her the truth about her family.
Her grandfather had built the original company.
Marcus's father had manipulated legal records.
Eleanor later absorbed the assets.
Lena's mother had spent years collecting evidence.
She was killed before she could expose it.
Lena had inherited everything.
She simply had never known.
“Why did Michael tell me to trust you?”
Adrian looked at her.
“Because he knew I was the only person who could put it right.”
“What about the money?”
“I don't care.”
She stared.
“You're worth billions.”
“I already have enough.”
“Then what do you want?”
Adrian was quiet.
“You.”
The word surprised both of them.
He corrected himself.
“I want you alive.”
Lena lowered her eyes.
“I don't know how to trust people anymore.”
“I understand.”
She looked at him.
“You don't.”
“I do.”
He showed her a scar on his hand.
“Michael gave me this.”
“When?”
“The day we became brothers.”
Lena smiled faintly.
“You really loved him.”
“Yes.”
“What happens when the person you trusted most betrays you?”
Adrian answered without hesitation.
“You don't let them decide who you become.”
Lena studied him.
Then she took his hand.
For the first time, Adrian felt something other than responsibility.
Something warm.
Something dangerous.
Something he hadn't wanted.
He leaned closer.
She did not move away.
Their lips almost met.
Then the security alarm sounded.
They separated.
A guard rushed in.
“Mr. Voss.”
“What?”
“We found Marcus.”
“Where?”
The guard swallowed.
“He's at the cemetery.”
“Which one?”
“Michael's.”
Adrian went pale.
They drove immediately.
At the cemetery, Marcus stood beside Michael's grave.
He was holding a small box.
Adrian approached.
“What is that?”
Marcus turned.
“Michael left it for you.”
“Why?”
“He knew I would betray you.”
Adrian's eyes narrowed.
Marcus laughed bitterly.
“He knew everything.”
He handed over the box.
Inside was a wedding photograph.
Michael.
Adrian.
Lena.
Three months before Michael died.
Lena stared.
“I wasn't there.”
Adrian turned the photograph over.
There was writing on the back.
One day you'll understand why I chose her.
Adrian frowned.
“Choose her for what?”
May you like
Marcus looked at him.
“To save you.”
